


Melting Ice

by inkst0rm



Series: inkst0rm's OC Stories [3]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Ink as Blood, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkst0rm/pseuds/inkst0rm
Summary: Niisa's life was about to get a lot more interesting.(takes place just after "From Underground," will add more later)
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Series: inkst0rm's OC Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2148000
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Niisa let out a yawn as she stretched awake, standing after a moment and groaning as she realized it was a Monday morning. The orange octoling exited into her bathroom to take a quick shower, finishing in silence and changing into her favorite black and white shirt and shorts. She slipped on the sneakers in silence, then grabbed for her hair as she entered into her bathroom again. Quickly, she dried her tentacles off, then curled her three longest ones to put in a ponytail. Finished, she stared at herself in the mirror, noting that _something_ was missing before realizing she didn't have her sunglasses on her. She grabbed for them and pushed them above her head, smiling at her appearance. 

She had naturally ochre-brown skin and bright, ocean blue eyes, and her hair was a rich orange in any light. She smiled at her pearl earrings, fixing one of them with a hand, and she was wearing her favorite Kensa-brand shirt, a white, short-sleeved cotton tee with black on the edges. She wasn't one for anything but the brand she represented: Toni Kensa.

His brand had reached out to her at a young age, first starting her in children's clothes, then expanding into adolescents, and as she was right now, young adults. She fixed her ponytail as she realized it wasn't put up correctly, and her three curled tentacles stretched just beyond her shoulders once tied. Finally satisfied, she exited out of her room, grabbing her schoolbag and heading down two floors to her kitchen, passing her modeling assistant Gene. "Good morning, Niisa! I was just about to get your stones heated. You've got a tennis match today, right?"

"No, Gene, that's tomorrow." She didn't meet his gaze, but knew he was just as dedicated without acknowledgement, just as he'd been in the nine years since he'd moved in. "I'm playing a game at Ammoses High, if you'd like to come. This afternoon I'm supposed to have practice after school, though." She paused midway through packing her lunch, calling, "Can you put the leftover sushi in there? Don't forget some chopsticks while you're at it!!"

"On it!" The minty octoling passed her as she headed back upstairs to grab her racket. She remarked to herself about how lucky she was to be so well off, then lost the thought as she carried her racket down, only to pause as she heard her father's yawn.

Out stepped her father, a full foot taller than her, deep purple hair a mess. "Good morning, Father." His ruby-colored gaze blinked back at her, clearly only half awake. He let out a second yawn, this one longer than the first. "Remember that I have practice today after school."

"Already? But isn't your first day today?"

"That doesn't mean they'll hesitate at all." Niisa was about to head down the stairs, only to hear him tap his foot on the floor, an indication that he had something else to say.

"I was going to let you know," he called, "that I have a work party this evening. Is your swimsuit clean? You'll be keeping some of the kids entertained." She nodded, then he turned to head into his bathroom. "Great. And Niisa." She paused just before her sneakers could touch the first step. "Have a good first day."

"Thanks, Father." She headed downstairs, just as fast as she had before, if not faster, and saw Gene finishing packing her lunch. "Thank you always, Gene."

"No problem. It's the least I could do as your assistant." He smiled and handed her the lunchbox, which was a bento-box style she loved. "I put your sushi in the bottom and some fruit and a small treat at the top." His ever-proud gaze stared back, exactly as he had been for years. "Enjoy it! And of course, happy first day of sophomore year!" He grinned and watched her give a small smile back.

"Bye Gene!! I'll be home later on!" She waved over her shoulder and headed out towards the closest train station. _Inkblot Academy is across the city. I take the train two stops down and transfer at the red line, then go another three stops down before I arrive. I wonder if there's anything interesting happening for the first day._

Her stomach growled midway through, and she sighed before making a quick dash into a coffee shop to get herself something to eat. "One chocolate scone and one blueberry muffin, please, as well as a mocha frappuccino with one cream and one sugar." _The train leaves in exactly twelve minutes. If I can just run fast enough, scan my card through, and get down there... I'll make it._

She entered the train station with an even faster step and her stomach still empty, coffee warm in hand as she made it down without (somehow) spilling any on her body. Sighing to catch her breath, she waited at the foot of the platform, taking a quick sip of her coffee. _Perfect._

She stepped in the car as it pulled up, finally able to eat her scone as she transferred stations. Now on the red line, she was focused on finishing her coffee, and she'd paused in her usual social media to save the battery on her phone, and was now glancing around for anyone or anything new. She didn't see anyone new, except...

 _Who's that?_ She perked up as she saw a flash of blue from further down the car, eventually catching the pair from which it came: a boy-girl duo of octolings, looking nearly identical to each other. The boy's hair was longer, and a slight bit of a mess, and the girl's hair was cut shorter than her companion's. They seemed to be engaged in conversation, talking quietly, but Niisa's eyes were focused on them as they glanced around. 

_They're certainly more interesting then some of the others here. Are they going to Inkblot?_

_Regardless, they're both as new as they could be. I hope that it's been a good experience._

Arriving at the academy, she watched them both stand and exit, losing track of them in the crowd, and as she did so, her heart twinged a little.

_I wonder why my heart's upped its pace._


	2. Chapter 2

As she headed off to her first class, a physical science course, Niisa quickly found her assigned locker, sighing as she slipped her racket and tennis clothes in it. The look she'd chosen for practice wasn't the nicest thing she had; she'd saved that for her game the next day. She closed her locker and turned to head to her class, catching a pair of inklings sharing a quick PDA before angling her gaze away from them.

 _I don't need that right now. Father tells me to always focus on my career, because if I don't focus I'll mess up, and then I'll have screwed over our family. That's what he says, anyway, despite acknowledging that he didn't exactly have that path._ She knew of the path her father had traveled; he'd fallen in love with a lesser-off girl and stumbled, which in turn had set them up to escape from the underground and live most of their lives in secret. "Blah blah blah, don't fall in love with someone you don't-"

A quick-running octoling smashed right into her, breaking her thoughts. The blue octoling's glasses fell and she shook her head slowly, blinking up at the nicer-looking student and quickly jumping to her senses. "Are you okay?! I'm so sorry, I -"

"I'm fine." Niisa blinked away the pain she'd felt when the poor student had run into her, then looked up at the other octoling, who was beginning to shiver. She didn't appear to be very strong, and reached for a pair of glasses that fallen when they'd collided. Her hair was short and blue, and was wearing a pair of black stud earrings, as well as a button-up white shirt and pants. She had a pair of black boots on her feet, and she was clearly thinner than most; her shirt was loose on her body. "Are you okay?"

She froze, ears raising slightly in surprise, then stuttered, "Nonononono, I'm okay. I'm okay. S-s-sorry, I just - my brother's locker is pretty far away, and -"

"It's okay. No need to explain." Niisa's voice was cold, her eyes looking annoyed, and the blue octoling was still shivering, almost moreso than she had been before. The orange octoling gave her a glare. "You don't know who I am?"

"Wh-wh-what?!?" Her paler face seemed to blush more and more. "Wh-what do you mean?!"

"I'm from one of the richest families in the city -"

"I-I-I'm so sorry!! I-I-I didn't m-m-mean to run in-into you, I-I-I was just -"

"You're going to make me late to class. Your ignorance made me -"

"Hey." Niisa froze at the deeper voice, recognizing it as being masculine, then stopped in her step. The other girl's eyes had gone wide, just as the orange octoling felt a cold hand on her shoulder. "Leave my sister alone." He pushed past her, taking his hand off of her shoulder, and came to stand next to his sister, which caused Niisa's eyes to widen at the sight.

 _That's the same boy from the train! That means they're both from the train - oh my gosh, and they're siblings._ The pair of blue octolings stared back at her, the shorter of the two relaxing as her brother placed wrapped an arm around her side. "You're quite a jerk, fussing at my sister like that. She didn't mean to run into you!"

Niisa didn't respond immediately, her eyes studying them again, as she had a better look at them then she had on the train. The taller of the two had bright green eyes and a pair of earrings, exactly like his sister's. He was wearing an aloha shirt, navy blue with white flowers, and his hair was a bit of a mess, but poked just beyond his ears. His gaze was cold, and next to him, his sister's mossy gaze went cold as well. She, on the other hand, was a bit shorter than her brother, but it was clear they were siblings; they held the same off-white skin and blue hair, and their faces held similar structure to each other. "Sorry," the orange octoling muttered coolly before walking off. She could feel their gazes staring back as she walked past them to class, and glanced over her shoulder when she paused at the foot of the door, seeing them still in sight.

The two looked at each other, then back at her, and the taller of the two murmured something to his sister before they followed, at a distance, behind her. She narrowed her gaze and turned, walking in without a word towards them as they entered. "Good morning class, and welcome to physical science!"

There were more than a few groans in the rows of desks. Niisa tried to listen out for the sound of the two from earlier, but she glanced over her shoulder again and spotted them: side by side, silent. "Most of tomorrow will be spent learning the syllabus. Today is an icebreaker day; can you all turn the desks inward?"

After a few moments, the class had turned their desks into a circle. "Perfect. Now, when you introduce yourselves, say your names and a little about yourselves. Who'd like to go first?" No hands, no answers. "Okay, fine then. I'll pick someone random. You." The teacher pointed his hand across the circle. "Blue hair and black earrings. You're up."

 _That's him._ Niisa could feel her heart starting to race, but dismissed it as the nerves she was facing on the first day. Nonetheless, the blue octoling looked up and cleared his throat, grabbing his sister's hand. "My name is BG. To the left is my twin sister, Copic." His sister's green gaze was full of nerves, but she relaxed as his palm slipped over her wrist. "Earlier this year, we escaped from underground."

She nodded and spoke quietly after he'd paused. "We started searching for Inkopolis when we were young, and went to one of Octavio's concerts for our fourteenth birthday. That experience changed our lives forever." She fell silent, then quickly murmured, "Um, we manage everything on our own, even without our parents."

 _Without their parents?_ Niisa raised an eyebrow. _How do they do that? Okay, okay, it's not a big deal... I'll question that later on._ Her eyes flicked to the boy again, who nodded as the teacher addressed him. "Thanks for going. You all should be like BG and Copic." As the class went around slowly, the orange octoling's eyes were still on BG. She was getting distracted by him... she wasn't aware of it, but she could feel herself smiling with a slowly warming face. "Hey, Niisa!" The teacher's call broke her out of her phase, changing her warm face from an infatuated one to an embarrassed one. "It's your turn."

"Sorry," she murmured. "My name's Niisa... most of you all know me, except for maybe the new ones. I've lived in the city for years, and I'm an active tennis player and model for Toni Kensa." Her face had eased from its warming state, back to a cooler one, and she caught the twins' gazes, feeling herself freeze as she saw the recognition in their gazes. She blushed again, sighing, then turned her eyes away from them, eyes cold but face on fire.

_Why are they in this class? And why is my heart still racing - it was earlier, but it's still racing now. Ugh._

_I can't believe I share classes with the girl who ran into me, as well as her brother who is... undeniably a little cute._ She pressed her face into her hands, hiding her blush, then turned her gaze back to them as they listened to the teacher speaking. _Whatever. I don't need to interact with them... it's just like Father said, don't get distracted._

_My heart's still pounding._

_This is going to be a long year._


	3. Chapter 3

Niisa's day had gone on without much issue, and as she finished the school day, she could hear the chatters of excited students. She reached into her locker for her racket and clothes, then heard a light patter of footsteps behind her, looking over to see the blue-haired girl - Copic - from earlier. "H-h-hey, um, Ni-Niisa..."

The orange octoling's eyes stared back, confused. "What's up?"

"I-I-I just w-wanted to apologize. Y-y'know, f-for running into you to-today." Her green gaze was full of anxiety, and she was beginning to shiver again. "I-I-I really hope you know that - that I didn't m-mean to run into you. I r-r-really didn't. I'm so-sorry." She fixed her glasses with a hand, then blinked quickly, shrinking back a little. "I-I'm so sorry, I-I-I should go find my-my brother -"

"It's okay. Really."

"A-a-are you sure?!" Copic's ears raised slightly, eyes wide with nerves. "B-b-but - I ran into you - y-you're just taking it like th-that?!"

"Why shouldn't I take that any differently?" Niisa raised an eyebrow. "You ran into me and apologized. That's that. It wasn't intentional."

The blue-haired octoling sighed in relief. "Th-thank you... I'm sorry for reacting that way, I-I just don't often hear that sort of thing... especially because you were, um, said to be pretty rude, and cold, and -"

"A jerk?"

"There was a harsher word going around, but - yeah."

"Not surprising." Niisa pulled a tennis ball from her bag, then bounced it against the floor for a moment. "They probably called me a bitch. They called me that, didn't they?"

At her bluntness, Copic blinked at her slowly, with wide, mossy eyes that spoke of concern. "That's... exactly what they called you."

"Yeah, well." She slipped her racket out and began bouncing the ball with her racket. "I guess they wouldn't be wrong. That's the qualities most people consider bitch-like."

"I don't think you're like that." Clearly, the blue octoling hadn't meant to let the thought slip out, and she quickly stuttered, "Wh-what I mean is... y-y-you don't s-seem like you're a bad per-person. Y-you seem m-misunderstood."

"I guess that's a good term for it." The two were silent for a moment, the awkwardness obviously seeming to get to Copic.

"Well, um, I'm gonna go -"

"Copic! There you are! And you're with..." Niisa recognized that voice; it was Copic's brother. _What was his name? Be-something? Does the guy even have vowels in his name? Oh, that's right... BG. Skimpy kid._ He approached and gave her a glare. "What were you doing with her?"

"I wasn't doing anything," she replied, trying hard to keep herself cold. "Copic came to apologize about running into me this morning. We were talking for a few moments about things."

Copic nodded, finally seeming to relax a little. "She's, um... she's not as bad as the others like to say she is. She's really not."

"That's okay and all, but -"

"Didn't you hear me?" She reached to move the tentacles over his ear, revealing his heavily pierced right lobe. This caught Niisa's attention; the younger of the twins had several more piercings on his right ear compared to his left. On both ears, he had a pair of stud earrings, but on his right, he had a third, followed by a helix on the edge of his curved ear. _Holy shit. Isn't he like fifteen? How'd he get away with all of those... wait._ The third stud had a number hanging off of it; Niisa had to squint in order to see it, but... _10,009._ "She's not bad."

He glanced back at the orange octoling, then sighed. "Alright, Copic, I believe you." He stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Time for a formal introduction, I guess." Something seemed to leech into his voice, a more relaxed tone, less tense than his previous sentences. "BG. Apologies for being so uptight earlier, I just can't bear to see my sister in trouble."

"She wasn't in trouble," Niisa murmured, but shook his hand anyway. "Niisa. Copic told me you heard about me?"

"Yeah, um, there was a ton of rumors going around that you were quite a bastard. I'm pretty glad to see that you're not..." He smiled slowly. "I see you have a racket. You play tennis?" She nodded and reached to grab her clothes. "For Inkblot, or?"

"No, on my own. I have a coach, and I, uh..." She checked the time. "Oh, _shit._ I have to go. I'm running late." She looked up at the twins, then murmured nervously, "...do you want to watch for a bit? I'm gonna just be down on the outdoor court, but -"

"Sure!" Copic called, interrupting her brother before he could speak. There was a newfound twinkle in her gaze, one of determination. "I'd like to see what it's like... I-I've never seen a tennis match."

"Well, it's not a match, but... still." The orange octoling grabbed her clothes and racket, then slipped her backpack over her shoulder. "See you all in a few minutes!" She pushed past them and exited, leaving the twins to look at each other in silence for a moment.

BG raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Since when have _you_ wanted to watch a tennis match? There's a court near our apartment, we could watch them all the time?"

"Shhh." She still had the spark in her eyes. "I saw something between you two. Something's going on... I can feel it."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, _there's a spark!_ There's something there, something between the two of us and her, who knows what that is, but it's a spark, it's there!" She watched his face sink into a blush, deeper and deeper as she finished, then froze after finishing. "...sorry, I said too much."

"Your excitement is nothing to be sorry about." He rubbed her ear gently, and she lost the anxious look in her eyes after a moment of it. "I just don't know how to react to that, Copic. And I have no idea what it means."

"You don't need to know what it means," she murmured. "Let's just head down there for now."

*

The twin octolings watched their newfound acquaintance as she practiced, watching intensely as she hit the ball back and forth in a volley. "She's really athletic."

 _Pop._ "Yeah, she really is. Look at the way she's dressed up for it though... I'm impressed that she can play like that."

 _Pop._ "Her outfit is pretty."

"BG..." 

"What?! It is!" The orange octoling knew they were talking, and only caught bits and pieces of their conversation. She wore a baby blue skirt and sleeveless shirt, as well as a blue headband. She still wore her earrings from earlier, the same pearl earrings she'd worn that morning, and she grunted as she hit the ball back.

As she paused to get something to drink, she glanced up at the two, who stared back at her. BG, again, caught her gaze. _His eyes are very pretty. I like his hair too. And all those piercings on his one ear aren't bad either. He looks quite thin... I wonder if he's lanky, or actually in trouble._

_If they're in trouble, I could help them. No, no, I'm getting ahead of myself... I should really just try to make friends with them first._

_I hope they like me being friends with them. I know I share at least one class with the two of them. That'll make life easier._

_I wonder what they like. I wonder what being friends with them is like._ She looked up from the ground as she heard a faint growling from near them. "...One of you is hungry." She turned her gaze to them. "Copic?"

The blue octoling blushed and nodded, then watched in awe as Niisa came over. "Here's some cash. Split it among you two and get something to eat." Both sets of eyes widened, and she nodded. "Take them!"

As she turned, a single thought lingered in her mind.

_I hope they like me._


	4. Chapter 4

_Two weeks later..._

The sounds of crowds within the outlet rung through an open door as the smell of frying dough lingered in the small building, where Copic and BG were working on fresh donuts to sell. The former had flour all over her arms, making her appear paler than she already naturally was; she was dedicated to preparing and frying the dough to pass to her brother, who worked on decoration and flavor. He was focused on perfectly placing the icing on a chocolate sprinkled one, and he could feel an emptiness in his stomach, but ignored it and kept his focus. Finishing, he slipped the finalized donut in the display case, glancing back at Copic as she skipped the track playing on her music. "You're gonna be ready with the next batch soon, yeah?"

"Obviously. I've got dough rising in the fridge." She pointed at the portable fridge to her left. "How many customers are you expecting we'll have today, G?"

"With this crowd... I'd suggest planning on making the rest of that." She nodded, then pulled a batch out to begin frying as she passed a fresh batch for him to decorate

The two looked up at the sound of footsteps walking in, and they met the gaze of the business-dressed octoling with a pair of wide eyes. "Hey there," BG called. "What'll it be?"

"Two dozen." Their eyes widened. "I'll take some from the display case. How much is a double dozen?"

"Two dozen is twenty dollars. Do you want any hot chocolate or coffee to go with that?"

"A warm hot chocolate sounds nice. Medium please."

"You heard him, Copic!" She perked up and recovered the dough before moving behind him and starting the drink. "Which ones do you want?"

"Three chocolate iced, two chocolate sprinkles, two strawberry iced, a strawberry sprinkle, three glazed... how many left?"

"Thirteen, sir."

"Alright... two cinnamon sugars, three maple glazed, two pumpkin spice... two salted caramel, a cookies and cream, two lemon glazed, and... can you make a special one?" BG cocked his head in confusion, but nodded slowly.

"It will take some extra time, but sure. This'll be your last one, by the way."

"Alright. Chocolate icing with strawberries on top."

"We do have one similar to that, by the way." BG pointed to the display case. "Look for the Fudge Fountain one." As the customer's gaze stared down, he read over the main toppings. "Milk chocolate-covered strawberry slices on dark chocolate icing and drizzled with a white chocolate glaze. We also can prepare chocolate covered strawberries for an extra price."

"Okay... a single Fudge Fountain, then." Nodding, the mullet-haired cephalopod grabbed one to slip in the second dozen, then slipped them both in a bag as Copic poured a medium hot chocolate for the customer.

"Your total is $25.37." As he paid, Copic passed her brother a portion of the excess she'd made before taking a sip of her own. "Thank you for your business, and here's your drink."

"Thanks again!" The customer grabbed the bags from the counter, and the twins watched him leave for a moment before Copic raised a suspicious-looking eyebrow.

"I wonder what he's off to, bringing two dozen donuts and ordering a specialty within them." She turned back to her work and began to prepare the next batch of donuts, just as her brother was slicing fruit to make a specialty one. "People don't just do that."

"You're right. I'm just glad he didn't order one that would set off your allergy." She nodded, smiling. "I don't want to get your epipen or turn down a customer."

"Yeah, well, that's wh-what I get for having a crazy allergy. Nobody's allergic to bananas."

"Except for you," he called, and she chuckled. " _That_ is why we have a strict policy up about bananas." He glanced back at the sign at the counter.

_**NO BANANA REQUESTS, PLEASE!** _

_One of our employees has a very serious allergy to bananas. If exposed, she will require an emergency epipen shot and hospital visit. **Because of this, we keep our entire establishment banana free. Any and all requests for banana will be denied.**_

"Thanks for keeping that up. It makes me feel safer to have something that says that rather than... having to explain an anaphylaxis reaction later." She worked in silence for a few seconds before wondering again, "But what was that guy doing, buying a Fudge Fountain alone?"

"He's trying to hook up with someone, I'll bet. Or maybe get two hearts together?"

"Don't you think he'd try to request a Sweetheart one if he was trying to unite hearts?"

"Valid point. Still, your curiosity is valid, and I share it. Here comes another customer."

*

Work parties weren't really Niisa's thing. It wasn't hers to organize, but she still didn't like it when her father _had_ to have them on a school night. _I usually stay up late anyway, but I don't want to be exhausted and sleep in. Especially not when I have a game tomorrow._ Groaning, she changed into a more comfortable outfit and grabbed her tennis suit to toss into the laundry before heading downstairs to do her usual for her father's work parties. She had a routine; she'd greet the guests at the door before taking whatever kids they brought with them to entertain until their parents decided to leave. _It means a lot of greetings, hellos, and goodbyes, but it makes Father happy. And Gene and I can handle those kids; we always do._

This was the rescheduled work party her father had attempted to hold two weeks earlier, only to have a sudden cancellation as something related to his work came up. So he'd done as anyone would do, and simply rescheduled the party before anything else could come up. As he'd requested the same two weeks ago, Niisa had slipped a swimsuit under her clothes, prepared to quite literally throw them off before leading the kids into their pool to have fun. Gene also appeared to have taken this motion; he wore an unbuttoned aloha shirt to greet the guests, his naturally lanky, sepia brown skin poking out from the midsection. His client's father seemed displeased by this notion, but said nothing, his ruby gaze narrowing.

The trio stood in silence, each in different outfits, but two indicating a prepared visit to the indoor pool on the second floor. Niisa'd changed appropriately into a two piece swimsuit, but wore an appropriate-colored blouse over it, and stood in a pair of shorts that hugged her body perfectly. She also wore her signature pair of sunglasses overtop, but had left her ears open; she wasn't fond of getting her earrings wet, and she lifted one of her rose-brown palms to her face as she briefly fought an itch on her nose. Gene, to her left, looked bored as ever; he was currently messing with his curly, mint-colored mohawk, and wore a hibiscus-covered blue aloha shirt, unbuttoned to reveal the slight tone to his torso. He inhaled a long, deep sigh, and to his right, past Niisa, her father's narrowed gaze stared back, but was too preoccupied by waiting to be truly mad at him. His red gaze stared at the ground, and he flexed one of his rich, dusky brown arms in the air as he waited in his standard business casual wear: a purple suit shirt and navy blue tie over a pair of black pants. 

Kelvin's narrowed gaze would be lost as the first guest rang at the door, just as Gene tried to open his mouth to say something, only to pause midway through and return to his present figure from before. "Hey there."

"Hey yourself." By their guest's side, a small, young inkling child glanced up at them, excitement in her gaze as she spotted Gene and Niisa. "This is my daughter. You said she'd hang out with yours, Kelvin?"

"Yes, and this one, to my left, is my daughter, Niisa." She nodded her greeting and shook his hand slowly, then shook the inkling's hand as well. "To her left is her assistant, Gene. In exchange for him staying here, he takes care of her for preparation and to keep her as happy as one could be. You could argue that he's an unofficial guardian of hers." The minty octoling nodded and beamed at his praise, then crouched to meet the gaze of the inkling child.

"Heya," he murmured coolly. "You wanna go swimming?"

"Yeah! Yes, yes!"

"Well, we might as well get a head start, right?" He gave her a toothy grin, and she nodded excitedly. "Head up the stairs behind me. I'll be right behind you." She began to head up, and Gene glanced back over his shoulder. "I promise she'll be safe with me, sir. Niisa, I'll be waiting for you at the pool." She nodded as he left, and heard him calling, "Look at this!" followed by an awed yelp. This caused all three of them (Niisa, Kelvin, and the guest) to glance aggressively back behind them, only to realize it was just the inkling child's joy before turning back. 

The greeting would continue as more guests poured in. Kelvin's work parties were usually no bigger than his team, but he still aimed to invite most or all if he could... which often lead to fourteen to seventeen guests in his house that he managed, and whoever's kids came for Niisa and Gene to handle. One of Kelvin's final guests stepped in, a more loose and less stoic octoling coworker with a son about Niisa's age. "Hey Kellyboy, I brought some donuts for the kids!"

Kelvin's deep, ruby-colored stare narrowed. "Do not call me that. Give them to Niisa, she's handling the kids." The bag was passed to her, and she inhaled the brief scent of them before she looked up at the coworker again. "And be nice to those kids, Niisa."

"You thought I wouldn't be nice to them?" she murmured sarcastically, then didn't respond as he narrowed his gaze again. "Cheer up, Father. It was a joke."

"Right. Well, now that that's all in order, c'mon in." The father and daughter pair watched for a second as the elder of the two octolings whispered something in his son's ear, then the latter nodding his head in agreement. Niisa raised a confused eyebrow, but nonetheless pointed up the stairs behind her. "I think Freddie is the last of the kids who are coming. You're free to go, Niisa." She nodded and turned to follow behind the octoling, and she heard a muffled call from downstairs just before she stepped in.

"Y'know, Kelvin, your daughter and my son would be a really good duo, don'tcha think?"

She could barely make that out, much less her father's response, and raised an eyebrow before shrugging and turning to enter. _It's not my concern to worry about what they may say. All I'm concerned with is keeping the kids happy._ She inhaled the smell of donuts, then resisted the temptation. _I share with them and Gene first. Then I'll have one. Two dozen. Just enough for everyone to enjoy, if they have one. Extras can be broken into halves, but with the amount of kids we have today... I'll bet they'll be satisfied with just one. There are twenty two of them, afterall._

As she stepped in, Gene spotted her and blew a whistle he'd clearly run and grabbed in the meanwhile. "If you would like a donut, please visit Niisa! One only please, and please take them with dry hands or let her pass them to you!" Both inkling and octoling children ran out to get a snack, and somehow, neatly formed a line, quietly moderated by Gene. "One at a time, please."

Last in line was Freddie, and with exactly three donuts left, he took the Fudge Fountain, the only special one there. It was evident that the other kids were more interested in the sweeter flavors; the only ones that remained for Niisa and Gene were a salted caramel and lemon glazed. "You take the salted caramel, Niisa. I'll take the lemon one."

"But salted caramel is your favorite, Gene! You should have that one!"

"And I know lemon glaze is one of your least favorites." He smirked at her, and she felt her face flush with embarrassment at the truth. "C'mon, take it." He poked it with a finger towards her, just as Freddie approached, having not taken a single bite of his Fudge Fountain.

"I-I-I wanted to - to ask you something," he stammered, holding it out to her. "W-w-will you g-g-go to ho-homecoming with me?!" His hand shivered, and she stared back, eyes wide with shock. "It's just - you're the prettiest girl in school, and I just feel bad that you haven't seemed to have found anyone who works for you, and I wanted to see if I could just try to be that person for a second -"

Her mouth slipped open only slightly, staring at the donut in confusion and shock. _What do I even say??? I barely know the guy, and he's out here confessing his feelings??? But I don't want to break his heart, I guess..._ "Okay, Freddie." He looked up in his own bout of shock after she'd collected herself. "I'll go with you to homecoming."

"Okay... thank you. Do you want this donut? I was, um, saving it. For you to have." She took it from his hands and nodded.

"You can have another one if you'd like." He took the remaining lemon frosted out and began to walk away, leaving Gene to take the salted caramel and stare back in shock at her.

"What the fuck was that about?" he hissed to her, and she shook her head. "You never say yes to that. Literally never. You have no feelings for that dude I'll bet -"

"And you would be right about that." She bit into the donut and smiled at the cakey, chocolate strawberry taste. "I didn't want to break his heart. And besides, look at him, Genie." She pointed a finger to Freddie, watching him happily enjoy his donut. "He seems happier that I didn't say no."

"You are such a goddamn people pleaser," he sighed, and she nodded. "That's okay, though... you can show kindness to whoever you want. I assume the donut tastes good?"

"Mmhm. Let's see... this is from New Frontiers Donut Shop. That's in the Reef. It certainly is tasty, I might stop by more often." She went silent as she finished, then wiped her face off with a napkin before she tossed her clothes off. "Now, let's entertain some screaming children, shall we?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Homecoming._

Neither BG nor Copic recognized the term, but both were now dedicated to trying to find more information about it, with the latter having pulled up an article about it. "A tradition of welcoming back former students and celebrating an organization's existence... that's a strange reason to have a whole week dedicated to it."

"Yeah, that's valid. What else happens?"

"Hmm... it's supposed to coincide with alumni games for football seasons, with a dance afterwards. There's a whole homecoming court, with king and queen roles for each year... and it'll be announced at a pep rally. I wonder if we got nominated for any courts. I wasn't paying attention to it when it happened, because I didn't understand it."

"Mmm... there's lots of adverts for clothes. I don't even _want_ to know how expensive they are..."

"We already have dress clothes. Those should be fine, BG. If we want to go." Copic looked up at her brother, blinking. "...Do you want to go?"

"Err... we have to buy tickets, don't we? How much are the tickets to Inkblot's homecoming?"

"One second..." She typed in their school's homecoming information and smiled as she found her answer. "Fifteen dollars for the both of us. It's seven-fifty individual." She glanced at him, catching his green gaze out of the corner of his eyes. "It might be fun if we go, G."

He raised a questioning eyebrow, then turned to meet her gaze. "You want to go to a dance. Filled with people. With nobody to date you or anyone. What are you insisting, we go together? And what about your anxiety?"

"My anxiety will be fine. And yes, we'll go together. Besides, it might be fun." She gave him a toothy grin. "C'mon, BG."

"Fine... let me order them. We'll plan accordingly." He slipped into the notes app of his phone, writing down their plan. "We make dinner here, change into our clothes, then go. We'll be safe and stick together... but we can't stay out for too long. We have to work the following morning." After finishing, he stood to pull her into a tight hug. "Let's make some dinner."

*

_Today's the homecoming pep rally._ Niisa never liked watching the sports much, but did enjoy the pep rallies. _The student council will announce the homecoming court, followed by the winners walking out for each class. Then the cheer team will perform a routine, and then the annual students against staff tug of war and class against class dodgeball. It ends with a song from the band, then everyone goes back to class._ She followed behind her class, having blended in well with the crowd, and briefly caught something out in front of her - a flash of long, dark blue tentacles. _Wait. Is that..._ She could feel her face beginning to warm, until -

"Hey, Niisa!" Freddie's pale hand brushed with hers, and the short-haired octoling grinned as she met his hazel gaze. "Heh, you look surprised. Did thinking about me choke you up a little?" She blushed slowly, her face flushing orange slightly. "You really do think of me, don't you?"

"You asked me out. Of course I think about you, idiot." He chuckled at her insult, unaware that she was serious. _Not to mention, I have zero feelings for you whatsoever. That doesn't matter to him, obviously._ His hand slipped over hers, cold and unnerving to her palm, but nonetheless, she allowed the pale octoling to lead her to a seat on the bleachers. As they sat, however, she gazed around again, trying to spot the dark blue she knew and recognized, only to not see them and sigh out of a fit of hopelessness.

This would not last long, however, as she stared at the floor several rows down, lost in thought, only to jump as she head a familiar voice. "Over there, Copic! There's a good space!" At the sound of BG's voice, she perked up, eyes widening as she finally spotted them - the twin octolings, coming over to sit next to her and Freddie. _Oh my gosh they're right here._

As they squeezed in to her left, she could hear BG's cool, relaxed voice take over for Copic. "Hey there. I remember you." She looked up at his statement, eyes locking with his, green gaze encapsulating her for a moment before he raised an eyebrow. "You look confused. Do you not remember me?"

"No - I do, I'm so sorry, I froze up." She glanced back at Freddie, then over at BG again. "This is your first homecoming, right?"

"Y-y-yeah." From her brother's opposite side, Copic leaned over and spoke. "We've n-never seen a ho-homecoming before." The shakiness in her voice indicated that she was nervous about interacting with the orange octoling, and at this realization, the latter's blue gaze widened. "H-hey, Niisa."

"Hi, Copic." At her warm tone, the mossy-gazed octoling's face glowed with nerves and embarrassment. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you..."

"She knows. She's just nervous, like she always is." Her brother ran his fingers through her hair, and she smiled before relaxing slightly. "Good... now, take it easy, okay, Copic? It's really loud in here and I know you don't like loud things either."

"No, I don't." She nodded, then glanced back at Niisa. "Who's that you're with?"

"Oh, him?" Her blue gaze flickered back to the pale octoling to her right, then turned back. "This is Freddie. My homecoming date."

Copic raised a confused eyebrow. "There are dates for homecoming?"

"Well, um..." Again, Niisa checked to be sure the octoling was distracted before replying in full. "I don't like him in that way, but he did ask me out... and I hate the scenario he did it in, but I can't break hearts in it. But yes, there are dates for homecoming. Freddie is mine."

"A strange way of doing things, but alright." BG spoke before Copic could, and he patted her head gently before continuing. "This is a pep rally?"

"Mmhm. This is my second year watching it... and it's, uh, honestly, kind of lame." She'd continue, but Freddie's hand shifted over hers. "...Are you okay, Freddie?"

He pulled her under his arm, which instantly made her uncomfortable. "I'm fine, I just thought I'd hold you close for now." He began to lean down to give her a kiss, and she recognized the feeling before she placed a hand over his face and pushed him away. "What's wrong, babe, not ready for a kiss?"

"I'm not prepared for that level of physical affection yet, Freddie," she growled, allowing his hand to stay on her shoulder, but not without looking extremely uncomfortable. "Listen -"

"Your eyes are so cute..." She blushed, this time hard, and it was obvious that she was disturbed by the touch on her shoulder. "It's nice to see you happy."

She cast a strained look at BG, who looked over at Copic before he murmured, "Hey, Freddie, Niisa doesn't look very comfortable."

"You barely know her, you complete and utter -"

"Shhh!" Copic shushed the two before Freddie could finished. "The rally's starting!" Niisa squirmed gently under her "interest's" arm, and she eventually managed to pull away from him, folding her arms and frowning. This patience wouldn't last long, and Freddie tightly pulled her in again; however, her gaze remained narrowed and frustrated.

_I knew I shouldn't have told him yes._

*

The night of the homecoming dance arrived, and the twins were left scouring for nicer clothes to wear, both shuffling through their wardrobes in their respective rooms. Copic had already made her decision; she wore a black shirt, speckled with white spots, and a pair of tan capris, which paused at her knees. Her brother, meanwhile... he was still torn about what to wear, but eventually furrowed his eyebrows, groaning with frustration. "Copic, can you come over and give me some advice? I can't decide on what to wear!"

She popped through their bathroom and over to his room, where she sat on the edge of his bed, already dressed. "Well, firstly, put some pants on, you fucking idiot." He blushed, hard, then slipped on a pair of black jeans. "Better. Now, show me what you've got."

He placed a few shirts on the bed, sighing. "I'm leaning towards that one the most." He pointed towards a striped navy and white button-up polo. "It cuffs at my arms, and I was kinda thinking of, um, maybe wearing that tag necklace you got me? Y'know, the one that just has the wings carved into it, with our initials on the back? I think it'd really set the look up -"

"You sound like you already had an idea of what to wear with that shirt," she chuckled, and he furrowed his flustered eyebrows even further.

"Yeah, but I have these two other shirts I could wear, and I had stuff to go with those too! Like if I wear this white one, I was gonna grab the suspenders I have - or the aloha shirt with the parrots on it, I was going to wear that necklace with our birthstone on it -"

"Shut up! Just wear the polo, BG!" She stood to give her taller brother a hug, and he finally seemed to relax. "Button up all but the last two, for some style. I'll go get your necklace, you straighten yourself up and get your shirt on. This is gonna be fun!! You know that!!" She sounded more excited than nervous, but her jittery stature told him that she wasn't _totally_ anxiety-free. She stepped out of their shared bathroom after a moment, slipping his necklace over his head. "There!" She grinned. "Perfect. You look good, G."

"Thanks, Copic... are you ready to go? Did you have some dinner?"

"Mmhm. I already ate, I'm ready to go." She pulled her hair into a ponytail, feeling her thin tentacles spread out in the knot she'd tied. "Are you gonna put your mullet in a pony tonight?"

"I don't like to do that often, and you, of all people, should know that. Unless you're planning to keep yours that way."

"Doubtful!" She pulled her phone from its charger, then smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll be right now." He took the lead, then indicated out of the door to let her go. "Shall we?"

"We shall." She pulled his hand forward as he shut their apartment behind them, locking it with his key before slipping the cool metal shape into a pocket. "C'mon!" She'd taken a lead now, and began to head down the steps to the apartment lobby, her boots cluttering against the stairs. "I'm taking a leeeead!"

"You get ahead all you want, you'll just be swiping cards for us!" BG wasn't far behind his sister; she had escaped out of the lobby ahead of him, but they arrived at their station at the same time, and she took the lead again and swiped their cards through the kiosks. "See?"

"I don't mind. Besides, I like messing with you!" She spun on her heels to face him as they slipped into a train car. "This is going to be so fun." She pulled her hair tie out and tossed it to him, calling, "Put your mullet up."

"No." He threw it back to her, watching her catch it before she settled in a seat. "Keep it on your wrist, I'll get it from you if I want to." She nodded, then waited patiently for them to arrive at Inkblot before exiting beside her brother, smiling. "Alright... we stick together, right? And if we get lost -"

"We'll step out and call each other." Copic's hands slipped over his. "It's okay. I feel okay."

"You took your medicine before we left."

"Mmhm... and although I'll crash later, I'm feeling okay right now."

"Good... let's go inside."

The twins would enter, side by side, and quickly get lost in the excitement. Elsewhere in the space, however...

Freddie's hand dragged Niisa around, and she looked quite stressed, which, in her mind, absolutely _sucked. I want to have fun here, not get dragged around by this guy, who's somehow turned from the nerd to the biggest fuckboy I've ever seen._ "Freddie, let go of me - I'm gonna go get some air." She pulled her hand away, only to watch him pause and try to pull her back in. "Let go of me, it's hot in here!"

"Is it because of me?" he flirted, and she gave him a furrowed glare. "What? Ugh, fine. Go take your air break." She turned, heading out in her dress, listening to her heels clank against the floor.

Out she stepped: arguably one of the prettiest girls in school, now hanging out in the school's courtyard in order to get some air. She'd let Gene style her up tonight; she wore a blue, sleeveless dress that stopped at her knees and frilled out at her hips. The dress shimmered with faux jewelry, and she wore a pair of black heels and pearl earrings to finish the look. She was resting on a bench outside, just as a certain pair of twin octolings stumbled out to get something to drink.

"I'm so happy we came!" Copic's voice caught the orange octoling's attention, and she gazed over as she spotted the two, getting a freebie cookie for them to share as well as a small, plastic shot cup of water. "It's really hot and sweaty in there though."

"Yeah." At BG's voice, Niisa's heart lifted. "But I have you." She watched them as they spotted her, and they glanced at each other before approaching her. "Hey again, Niisa."

"H-hey!" Her voice shivered slightly, and BG's ears lowered slightly in confusion. "I-I-I was just getting some air!"

"Mm, as were we." Copic's voice, for once, sounded calm around her, and she bit into her half of the cookie. "How's your date?"

At the question, the blue-gazed octoling's face fell. "Uh... not as ideal as I'd like."

"That's gotta suck," BG murmured, and as he caught her gaze, she felt her heart pound. _Oh man. His outfit. His eyes._ "I mean, the guy seems like a total dick."

"Yeah, he kind of is." She stood from her position, anticipating her date's arrival. "I should head back in before he suspects something strange."

"Okay, well... bye, I guess, for now." She turned to head back in before hearing him call. "Wait. Do you know where a bathroom is?"

"The boys' bathroom? Don't you go to this school?" She raised a confused eyebrow, and the twins nodded. "When you step in, take a left. Follow that down and you'll find both the boys and girls bathrooms."

"Alright... thank you." She headed back inside, only to feel a hand place on her back the moment she stepped in. _Fuck you, Freddie._

"Heya, I was wondering what took you so long." His voice was cool, but strained. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, then we'll be back to dancing." She was dragged, again, by his hand to the bathrooms, and she sighed as he entered, pulling out her phone to scroll through social media. _Niisa Adonis, 54.7k followers._

She was clueless as to those who entered and exited, including BG and Copic, who both came and split into their respective bathrooms as she waited. The latter exited before her brother, coming to stand beside her. "Hey." Niisa jumped, then met her gaze. "Thanks for telling us where to go. Sorry for scaring you."

"That's okay, I'm sorry... you're waiting for your brother, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah. He's not usually this long." She let out a sigh before she rolled her eyes. "I seriously hope he didn't run into an issue."

"I don't like thinking about stuff like that," Niisa murmured. "Freddie's taking a long time too..." She thought for a moment, then Copic's eyes went wide.

"You don't think they -" She began to shiver. "There's no way they've -"

"Whoa, whoa, are you okay?" Niisa's blue gaze met her terrified green one. "C'mon, we'll go figure out what's going on together." She nodded and swallowed nervously, following behind Niisa.

From within, they could hear voices... "What were you doing, talking to my girl like that?" _Freddie._

"Your girl? She was getting some air."

"Nah. You were doing something to her. You and that fucked up sister of yours." At the latter statement, Copic's eyes widened. "Were you talking about fucking her later?"

"I have zero interest in that right now. And Copic is not fucked up, she just has anxiety." The girls approached quietly, and Copic's ears raised as she attempted to listen, her eyes just barely catching Freddie. He was taller than her brother; it didn't seem like much, but it was obvious that BG was shorter than him by a few inches. He walked with a prowl in his step, and his hair was short and a muted red color. His hazel gaze stared at the ground through a pair of square glasses, and BG kept himself collected but stared back with a glare. "I wasn't hanging out with Niisa intentionally. She was out there, we were out there. It was coincidence."

"Yeah, right. You were flirting with her, weren't you?" His harsher stare was beginning to break BG, and he clearly caught onto this. "You're a lying little brat!"

"No, I'm not!" the green-gazed octoling growled, but his eyes were shifting to fear... "I'm not lying about what she was out there!"

"You liar!" Freddie grabbed his collar and lifted him easily, showing how easy his underweight self could be lifted. "You were flirting with her. You want her as your own. Well, I have bad news for you!" He raised a fist and slammed it into BG's stomach, and the blue octoling winced, hard. "You won't get to have her!" He dropped the mullet-haired octoling, then gave him a swift, harsh kick to his side.

Copic wasn't having this. "Niisa." Her voice was harsh, just as BG attempted to stand, only to get a kick to his abdomen and sink down in pain. "Back me up. I'm gonna charge him."

"What?!"

"Just follow my lead." Her voice seethed with anger, and she threw herself out at Freddie, slipping into her octopus form. She quickly stuck herself in front of his face, then wrapped four of her tentacles tightly over his eyes and mouth. Niisa, behind her, pulled her arms over his neck, then wrestled him away from BG, who stared back in shock and shifted away as fast as possible.

"Copic..." She heard his voice, shifted out of her octopus form, then turned to give Freddie a glare before approaching her brother, who looked suddenly nauseated and in pain. He had a black eye and a scratch on his chin, although not deep. "Oh, Copic..."

"Shhh... let's get out of here." Freddie pulled away from Niisa, just as Copic's gaze widened. "We need to go. Now."

The two barely scrambled away, escaping without any issue, then stood outside the school, panting. BG's stomach rumbled with shuffled nausea, and he turned to vomit into the bushes, groaning. "Ow. That hurt, that hurt, that hurt... Why'd he go for there..."

"You got a kick to the balls," Copic sighed, then came to hug him. "I'm tired. Freddie made me tired. Let's go home and take care of that eye." He nodded, closing the pained eye. "I'm so happy you're okay..."

"Me too... I hope Niisa is alright."

"Same here, but let's get home."

Back within the bathroom, Niisa had said nothing to him as he tried to question her, heading out with a quick, determined stride. Freddie gave her a narrowed stare, but didn't argue, and she kept walking, back turned to him.

_I sure hope BG is okay._


	6. Chapter 6

Copic _hated_ treating her brother for injuries. He always looked like he hurt in more ways than one, but today he just looked... sick. "How are you feeling, BG?"

"Better... though I wish that fucking jackass hadn't kicked me in the groin." He pressed the ice pack to his eye, wincing before staring tiredly on the floor. He raised his other hand to rub the bandage over his chin scratch, then groaned subtly at the lasting effects of the kick. "Ow... man, why was I cursed to react like that..."

"What exactly happened?" she asked, coming to sit next to him. "I obviously don't experience it in the same way, so tell me..."

"You might get uncomfortable." She shrugged, then stared back. "Alright, fine. The moment he kicked me, I felt tears in my eyes. I was dizzy and feeling double the amount of pain between my groin and stomach, and I was suddenly so nauseated, I just needed to vomit... then while we were coming home, I was covered in sweat and my heart was pounding." He sighed, then closed his eyes tightly. "I never, ever want to get a kick like that again. That hurt so goddamn much..."

"Sounds like you've had one hell of a night. Any lasting effects?"

"No... now I'm just trying to recover. Throwing up dinner last night didn't help." He blinked up at the ceiling, feeling a headache. "Get me some food."

"You sure you want to eat something right now?"

"If eating will help my nausea, yeah. Get me some toast?" She nodded, then stood to make him a pair of slices. "Mm... I wonder how Niisa feels about her date doing that to me."

"Probably not well. I'll bet that she's broken up with him by now... which reminds me, why are you so into her?"

"Me? Into her? Why are you asking that?"

"She's gonna keep making an impact on our lives. You heard what Freddie asked. He thinks you're into her."

"I could argue just the same to you." She caught the toast as it popped out of their toaster, her ears lifting slightly in surprise. "You are gay, after all."

"Yeah, well." She buttered the slices in silence for a few seconds. "I'd just kind of like to be her friend right now. But she is super pretty, don't get me wrong."

"And you said you weren't into her." She blushed faintly, then slid his toast to him as she approached. "Thanks for that, Copic." Her brother reclined for a moment before taking a bite. "Oooh yeah, that's feeling better... and I'll be honest with you." She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'd like to be her friend too. But who knows how long that'll be?"

She nodded, then yawned. "Regardless, I don't think she'll be dating Freddie anymore."

"I hope so. Bastard gave me a black eye and got my chin scratched up. Not to mention... that kick and punch hurt a lot." He finished his first slice, then continued into his second one. "Mmm... hey, have you seen that Splatoween thing going on?"

"Hmm?" Her ears raised, eyes widening. "Uh, no, I haven't."

"Well, it falls in a few weeks. About two weeks from now, I think?" He pulled out his phone and began to look for information on it, holding the toast in his mouth. "Mmf... yeam, fhere's a Fhplatfest that week."

"Take your toast out of your mouth, I can hardly understand you." As he did so, she continued. "You said a Splatfest was that weekend? And what even is Splatoween?"

"Good question." He typed in the term in a new tab and read it aloud. "Blah, blah, blah, other names... aha! Splatoween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31 as a nod back to historical Halloween celebrations... Splatoween encompasses roughly the same aspects of Halloween, with trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, festive gatherings, costumes, and treats involved."

"Strange... but alright." Copic shrugged and began to look for costumes. "I'll bet there's gonna be some sort of Splatoween thing we'll be invited to, thanks to the people we know."

"Yeah... by the way, while it's on my mind, I was gonna let you know that I'm gonna find a guitar." At this, her eyes widened. "I never forgot the lessons you bought me. I know with everything I did, it cut my lessons short, but -" She stared back with a sinking look in her eyes, and he stood to hug her, pulling her in tight. "I'm still so sorry about that. Even though that saved our lives."

"It did save our lives, but it doesn't stop it from hurting. You should know that." She sighed, then closed her eyes tightly before relaxing. "Whatever... I'm glad you're getting a guitar. How'd you know you'd get one?"

"Well, firstly, I don't." This caused her to raise an eyebrow. "One of my classmates invited me to visit their band." Her ears raised with excitement. "And yes, you can come too, Copic. That's gonna be happening soon. They saw me looking at bass guitars and slipped a note over to me during class."

"Do you mind me asking what their name was?"

"Sylvan. They've got a band with two friends, and they offered to take me to their practice tomorrow."

"You arranged all of this on a Friday."

"Mmhm. Band practice is tomorrow, where I'll meet all of them in full. Do you want to come along?"

"Sure. It gives me time to get out of the apartment too." She yawned slowly, this one longer than her last. "That was tiring, trying to pull you out of there."

"I'm glad you did." He stretched, rubbing her head with a hand. "I could've gotten hurt more, had you not been there. Who knows when he would've let me go?" She nodded, then shifted into her octopus form. "I wonder what happened after we left."

*

Niisa's phone had been buzzing pretty much nonstop since her walkout, mostly from Freddie. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, stop bothering me -"

She heard it buzz again, groaning. _Fuck you, you slimy bitch._ Upon hearing her phone, she swiped it open to read over his rant. He'd sent her a message every hour before he'd left his rant, and she narrowed her gaze before sighing and beginning to read.

_Are you alright?_

_I'm not sorry for what I did._

_Why would a wimp like him be into a beauty like you?_

_You're not replying._

_Do you actually feel bad for that scrawny shrimp?_

_Someone like you deserves a stud like me, baby._

_He doesn't deserve to lay a hand on your body._

_Why'd you stop me from beating him up?_

_And who was that accomplice of yours?_

She'd come to his rant, finally. _You're up by now. I know you are. You opened up Cephalosnap at approximately 7:56 this morning to check out the homecoming stories. That's predictable for one like you. Whatever. You're ignoring me. You felt sorry for that gaunt bastard. How dare you walk out on me. I promise you, I will -_ She stopped reading the message from there, feeling the anger boil in her stomach, warming her ears. She had a single response to the long message, taking a deep breath before she sent it.

_Goodbye, Freddie._

Before he could respond, she quickly blocked his number as well as his social media. Having done it in a rush, she sighed and pressed her phone into her chest. _I did it._

_I have never felt so terrified in my life._


	7. Chapter 7

BG and Copic met Sylvan after school, the octoling's long hair stretching just over their shoulders. "Hey. Glad to see you!" Their brown eyes blinked, and they grinned before turning to take a lead. "Who's the girl next to you, G?"

"You're already calling me G?" He scoffed, then smiled before introducing his sister. "This is my twin sister, Copic." She waved at them as they spun on their heels to meet her gaze, waving. "She's pretty quiet, but I promise, once she gets comfortable, she'll gladly have a conversation with you."

"Eh? Is that true, Copic?" They'd turned to meet her gaze, walking backwards... and straight into their train car without issue, somehow. "You'll be talkative once you're comfortable?"

She spoke with a quiet tone, holding onto her brother's arm. "...Yes. Eventually I'll be more comfortable with you, Sylvan." At the acknowledgement of their name, their eyes went wide, and seemed to process her statement for a moment. "Are you alright there?"

"I-I-I'm fine! Sorry, it's just - people don't usually call me Sylvan immediately. I think it's because people get weird about me being non-binary, which makes, uh, zero sense to me." They closed their eyes tightly, then smirked and looked up. "Anyway... glad you're coming. You and BG will have a good time."

"R-r-right." Copic swallowed her nerves and tried to keep a straight face. "And I really don't mind that you're non-binary, Sylvan. I think it's cool." She already seemed to be relaxing, which seemed... well, odd to her brother. "Besides... I'm into just girls anyway." The casual drop of her sexuality got her twin's eyes widening.

"There is no way you got comfortable with them that easily," he hissed, and she shook her head before giving him a small smile. "You never relax that quickly."

"They're your friend, BG." She blinked slowly, watching them stare back at the pair with a blank, neutral stare. "I trust friends of yours." The pair turned back to Sylvan, watching them stand with their case in hand. Copic took this opportunity as a way to analyze their appearance, gathering details for a potential doodle later. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh! No, nothing's wrong! It's just - ah, it's interesting to watch you two interact. As twins, y'know. Who's older?" BG replied with their answer, leaving her to gather observations.

Sylvan's hair was long; they seemed to like it being wavy down past their shoulders. It didn't appear to go down forever, as it barely poked under their underarms, but still remained the same as any other octoling's, and glowed dark purple in the cool, white light of the train. They stood taller than her; not much taller, but tall enough to have a height advantage, but not over BG. Their eyes were a deep, rich sepia color, and their skin wasn't much different from their stare. They wore a red and blue aloha shirt, with a singular glove and bracelet around their note-holding hand. They didn't seem to be one for shorts; even in the somewhat warm October temperatures they wore pants. Their shoes, however, were gray and blue, stretching over their ankles. They reached a hand to fix their black boater hat, then glanced to spot the stop they were coming upon. "There's our stop. Follow me, I'll show you the fastest way to get there!"

They took the lead, making a quick dash up the stairs and waiting at the top for the twins to follow. The pair glanced at each other, then BG shrugged before nodding and making an equally quick dash up the stairs, though lost the lead to Copic, who stumbled just before she reached the top. She'd never hit the ground, however, as Sylvan spotted her and quickly reached their hands out to catch her. "Easy... don't run so fast that you end up hurting yourself!" They pulled her up beside them, just as BG caught up to the pair. "I'd hate it if I watched someone get hurt like that." At this, her mossy gaze widened, and she could feel her heart beginning to pound with surprised anxiety. "You alright there?"

"Wha - me?! Ye-yeah, I'm okay!" They nodded, then continued their lead.

They'd continue as a trio to their practice location, then Sylvan reached to knock on the door. "Saaaaaam! Let me in! Yvvy!" They knocked more and more, and eventually sighed and burrowed for their key. "Fuck. They've gotta be making out somewhere." They unlocked the door and pushed it open, only to spot the couple, obviously not together, but still obviously sharing a moment. "Uuuuugh, there you two are!" They rolled their eyes, then glanced back at the twins. "Sorry." They lowered their voice, murmuring, "Yvonne - the inkling - is totally into my brother. He's oblivious."

The pair nodded, then stepped in behind Sylvan. "BG, my bass is over against the amps over there." They pointed in opposite direction from the group's stage. "It's my father's old bass. He had to give it up once he realized taking care of two kids and his job had to come first, but kept it around once he saw that Sam and I were... well, very into guitar. So we messed around with is for a while before our parents got us our own guitars."

"That's pretty cool." BG had found the guitar they were referring to, and as he did so, Copic proceeded to do the same physical analysis on Sam and Yvonne. _Just in case._

Sam looked pretty similar to his sibling; they held the same tone to their skin, and his eyes glittered with silver-gray as he spotted her. He seemed to be trying to work something out in his gaze, which got her raising a confused blue eyebrow, but sighed and slipped the towel off his head to readjust it. This revealed a round, pink afro, and he took a moment to tie the rag around his head, which hid it from view. Like his sibling, he wore pants, but had a band tee on of a group she'd not heard of. _SashiMori._ He messed briefly with his ears, which weren't floppy and flexible like hers were, and she suddenly noticed a pair of golden rings looping through the lobes. _Whoa. Cool._

Her eyes flicked to the right, studying Yvonne next. She'd not seen inklings as often; generally, she tried to stick around octolings, as she could relate to them far more than inklings. The inkling's teal gaze met hers, completely fitting the mask, and she frowned, a solo eyebrow raising in confusion. She had a single, extended tentacle hanging out of her cap, and narrowed her gaze as she spotted Copic. "Sylvan, where the hell do you find cephalopods like this?" This broke Copic's physical study, and the purple-haired octoling came over to pat her shoulder. "Stop touching me."

"Alright, alright. I saw BG in school, he was looking at guitars. I slipped him a note and gave him an opportunity to come visit. Copic, meanwhile, came over because she's his twin sister. They generally do things together." This caused BG to raise an eyebrow as he inspected their old bass.

He called over his shoulder, "Hey Copic, you wanna kick my ass in Smash later?"

She gave him a subtle grin. "I will gladly destroy any and all possibility of you winning with my Pikachu."

"And that should be your proof that Copic will not hold back just because we're twins." He lifted the bass over his shoulder, plugging the end of an amp into the end. "Okay... what would you like me to do, Sylvan?"

"Play us a solo." At this, he froze. "What? You scared?" He shook his head, rubbing his pierced ear for a moment before swallowing nervously. "Whenever you're ready, BG."

He took a long, deep breath and met Copic's gaze, which blinked beyond her glasses. The two stared for a long moment... before he finally sighed and tuned, and tapped a foot to the rhythm he knew and internalized. "Never seeing eye to eye, harmony destroyer..."

The sounds of his strange, marrow-ridden voice were easy to be heard, but the group seemed to be more focused on his playing. From somewhere outside, a certain octoling overheard the practice...

She glanced back at the space, almost turning a blind eye, then listened in as she heard a new, different song that only seemed to involve a single instrument. Approaching slowly, she raised her eyes over one of the side windows on a door, then spotted him: BG, with his long, blue mullet, green eyes strained and scared, but growing deeper into song with every note he played. "If I don't cry... I'll be at peace tonight... and why should I, apologize?" Her blue gaze blinked in awe as she spotted him, heart beginning to pound with excitement, then kept listening to him, careful not to reveal herself.

She listened to him pluck the higher notes of the song's end, then heard him sigh into the mic as he finished. "I love you, Verne Troyer. From one of the album archives."

She turned her gaze over to the crowd, spotting Copic, whom she recognized, and three other cephalopods she didn't. "Holy shit!" one of them called excitedly after a moment. "What the fuck!! You're a singer?? And you're a natural at bass!" From his left, the longer-haired brown-gazed one pointed at the door and murmured something to him before standing and coming to the door.

"Stupid parents... get out of here, we're practicing!" They almost opened the door and clobbered Niisa - who'd hidden in the bushes in her octopus form. Gazing around for a second, they tried to look for who they'd spotted, then shrugged. "Whoever it was seems to have run off somewhere." Relaxing after they closed the door, she shifted out and poked her blue gaze up to watch him again. "Regardless, Sam's right. You've got a knack for bass, BG." He blushed faintly, but didn't reject the praise.

"Thanks, both of you... Yvonne? Copic?" Niisa recognized the latter, gaze moving towards his mossy-eyed sister. "What'd you think?"

"I liked it." That wasn't Copic's voice - it had to have been Yvonne's. "Sam and Sylvan are right. You have any experience?"

"Um, yeah... Copic bought me guitar lessons. She knew I wanted to play... she can sense things as my sister that even I can't figure out myself. It was her instinct that got me taking lessons." She beamed, pride on her face. "It's nice to see you happy, Copic." 

She nodded, quiet as usual, but Sylvan nodded, acknowledging her. "She sounds like a good sister of yours. Hey, one sec." They turned to Sam and Yvonne, who nodded. The trio whispered among themselves for a moment, then turned back to BG and Copic. From the door, Niisa's blue gaze widened, ears focused. "We've made a decision. You can come in as our bassist, BG."

His ears raised in surprise, and his blush increased, turning his face a shaded blue. "What?! But - but I wasn't any good! I fucked up the solo at the end! And I couldn't hold the high pitch - I've got no vocal experience whatsoever!" At this final statement, Copic began to chuckle.

"He's lying." He blushed harder, and the trio of musicians turned back to her. "He's a shower singer. He literally hummed that tune and found his baritone voice by singing that song."

"Copic." He stared off to the side, annoyed embarrassment on his face. 

"You know that's true. With our apartment, you can hear anything from either of our bedrooms. You could hear me if I shower-sung as well." Niisa's heart accelerated as the statement processed. _He sings in the shower. Holy shit. How cute is that?!_ As the thought entered, she stared at the ground, very confused. _Cute. What's wrong with me?_ She looked back up and spotted his embarrassed face, then was too overwhelmed by her thoughts to keep listening.

_Freddie wasn't actually right... was he?_

_I mean, the guy's a literal shrimp. He's visibly gaunt. Both of them are underweight. Man, I wonder how often they go hungry._

_Regardless... he seems cute. He has a mullet. It's cute on him. Mullets don't look cute on everybody, but man, this boy..._

_Okay. Don't get overwhelmed._

_I've just gotta be friends with them first. I think. That'll let me see him more often. And... his sister. Who knows how she feels about me after her running into me and the whole homecoming thing._

_Friends. Right._

_I hope you like being friends with me, BG._


	8. Chapter 8

_Heyyyyyyyy, BG!_ The message from Sylvan caught the mullet-sporting octoling's attention, eyebrow raising suspiciously from his bed, where he plucked a tune on his bass. They'd loaned him their old one; he had been learning quickly and was already quite proficient, even though he'd only had it for a week and a half. _I knew you'd fit right in with us... and I was gonna offer you the opportunity to come to our Splatoween gig._

He lifted his phone and swiped up, watching them type for a moment. _Uh, sure... what's special about that? Do you think I feel ready enough to play a gig? And how big is it? I don't want Copic to feel insecure._

They replied quickly, still writing as he read over it. _It's a fairly large venue. It's a party, and I promise you and Copic will be fine. We'll be by the docks, and if I recall... most of the more popular students are going to be there. Jocks and the like. Shouldn't be an issue, we'll all have a good time!_

He widened his gaze, blinking. _And you're sure everything's going to be safe. Do we get any money? We could use the money._

_Yeah, we should get some money. Split it between us, and the tips can go to you all._

_...Alright, fine. I'll talk to Copic about it._ He shut his phone off and exited outside to find Copic napping on their couch. "Hey, sis," he sighed, coming up to her and rubbing her side. "When you wake up... we have something to discuss." She shifted under his hand, almost waking, before opening her mossy gaze only partway for a moment before closing her eyes again, quickly falling back asleep. "D'aww. You're tired from school." He slipped his hand over her ears, then pulled it away. "Shh... go back to sleep."

She shifted again, then finally yawned, a long, winding yawn that resulted in her waking up. "I'm awake, I'm awake... I wanted to sleeeeeeep for looooonger..." She blinked tiredly, then sighed. "Okay... I'm up now. I am awake. Uuuugh. What's going on?" Her brother smiled, then pulled up the address to the gig. "What's that you're doing..."

"I'm just viewing the address to the party I got invited to." At this, she moved to sit up, looking over at his phone. "Sylvan invited me to it. I'd be going with the band, and we'll be out to play for a bit." She turned her gaze to her twin, and she pressed into his back before reading over the information. "We're playing together, and I was going to offer you an opportunity to come. Y'know, get a costume, have fun. maybe do some of that crazy Splatfest stuff?"

She smirked and nodded. "Sure. I'd love to watch you play for a crowd. You can be a vampire, or whatever you'd like -"

"Actually." He began to type in his phone, looking for ideas. "Look at that stupid sailor's outfit! It's supposed to be an ice cream workers' thing, but it fits perfectly!" The pair studied it for a moment. "Look, the guy's even got hair like me!" She nodded her approval, then glanced over at her room. "Don't worry about the costume, we'll be fine! Now, your Splatfest stuff is ready too, right?" She nodded once. "Good... we're pretty much set for now, then."

*

The sounds of the party practically blared through the building's walls as BG and Copic approached the back, hearing the sounds of themed music as it burst through the confines. "Somewhere around here is Sylvan... there!" The former finally spotted his bandmate at the door, and they waved as the pair approached. "Hey! I brought my bass!"

They nodded, then poked their head in the door before burrowing in their pockets for a moment. "Here. If you value your ears." They held out two pairs of earplugs, leaving them staring in surprise. "Here, I'll even help you put it in... it's so loud in there, I don't think you two want to lose your hearing like this." They approached Copic, whose eyes went wide with nerves as she felt their cold hand on her ear. "Easy, easy, easy..." She froze as they pressed the earplugs into the deepest part of her ears. "Good... you and BG's ears behave differently than most, so I had to take a second to find what I'm looking for."

She swallowed nervously, then moved her hand up to her ears, finding the earplugs stuffed into her outer ear as best they could. BG, witnessing this, felt around for his own, only to pass one over to Sylvan as they demonstrated where to put it. "And now that your ears won't get blown out, we'll be on our way." They encouraged the pair to the door, then swung it open to let them enter. "Aaaalright, let's go over the plan again."

They cleared their throat, then glanced outside and around at the party. The twins followed suit, catching sight of the major groups: a few jocks from one of the school sports teams and their dates; some of the "popular" girls talking excitedly to one another; a few couples dressed up and taking pictures in a photo booth; some wallflowers pressed against the edges of it all, waiting for excitement on stage, beyond where the DJ played holiday-appropriate music. Nervous with all the activity around her, Copic began shivering, only to be quieted down and nearly stopping once her brother's hand grabbed onto hers. "We'll be on stage pretty soon. We have some themed music to go over, but most of it is stuff we've played and learned." He nodded, and his twin almost held onto him as he and Sylvan split to go get some practice.

"Copic." She lingered at the edge of his hands, a nervous, anxiety-filled look in her eyes. "You're going to be alright. Nothing'll happen to you, okay? You're gonna have a good time, we both will. If you're really scared, I'll keep you on call so you can talk to me -"

She closed her eyes tightly, taking a long, slow breath, then blinked back at him. "Okay. I'm gonna be fine." She fixed her brother's vampire collar, the two having decided to not go as their matching choice and instead going for their initial options; BG had gone as a vampire, faux fangs hanging out of his mouth, and Copic had merely gone as a black cat, basing her ideas on the images of Judd she spotted. He fixed her second pair of ears as she straightened his collar, and the twin siblings gave each other one more tight hug before letting go. "Okay. I'm okay. You know what to watch for." He nodded, then pulled away from her finally.

"Call me if you need me, okay?" He waved and headed to follow Sylvan. His sister began to wade out into the crowd, where she very quickly pressed up against the wall, hearing the pounding music in her ears. She was suddenly grateful for Sylvan's earplugs, then shyly pushed a tentacle over her left ear, pressing on the floppy skin before she blinked out, watching the party in silence. Eventually, she heard movement from behind her - new, unfamiliar, but familiar, footsteps. Her ears raised slightly, catching the sound, and she gazed over at the edge to spot a certain someone... _Oh, what's her name again... I should know, I ran into her! Stupid, stupid, stupid... Niisa. That's her name. We saw her at homecoming._

She shivered at the memory of their previous encounter; she recalled the fear in her bones, and of course... _Niisa's eyes. They shimmered in that light. They were oceanic blue. Lighter, only slightly, than my hair. It was... kind of nice looking at her. She's undeniably pretty, but there was something very trusting in her eyes, like someone who's misunderstood. Like BG and I._ She remembered the moment she saw fear in her brother's gaze. _She wore a very pretty dress. It's a shame to have seen that go to waste on such a shitty date. Fuck that guy, beating up my brother like that... it's a miracle that his eye healed so quickly, and that nobody asked about it at band practice. But it doesn't stop the pain of seeing him like that._ Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, she studied Niisa for a moment, watching her be recognized.

The orange octoling looked a little stressed out by all of the greetings, but still waved. She'd dressed fashionably, obviously; her long, orange locks were tied in a tight ponytail, and she wore a bright pink shirt that was stained orange. _Probably temporary, for the bloodied look._ The shirt hugged her body well, but seemed a little small on her; Copic could just barely make out the very edge of her slightly toned stomach. She didn't seem to be much for heels, instead opting for black flats, and slipped her phone out of her navy capris before she slid into a photo booth, swarmed briefly by other cephalopods. At her popularity, Copic scoffed. _I can't imagine trying to look that good all the time._

She angled her gaze away from the booth, glancing back up on the stage to watch Sylvan and BG tune. The latter's bass rung so loudly that the crowd turned to look to him, and beside him, the longer-haired octoling nearly burst into laughter as he blushed, hard. The crowd ignored him and went back to chattering, and his sister turned her gaze to them, observing from a distance. She eventually got sight of Niisa again, this time of her exiting the bathroom. Her mossy gaze tracked her into the crowd, only to lose sight of her as she began to blend in with other around her. At this loss, Copic let out a frustrated groan, only to hear a march of footsteps near her. Normally she'd not listen to footsteps, but... these sounded strange, and scary...

Meanwhile, up on stage, BG and his bandmates had finally finished preparations and were, at last, ready to play. Sylvan gave him a glance and grinned toothily, then tied up their hair before they strummed a loud, vibrant chord. At this, the crowd turned and cheered loudly upon seeing them. The guitarist had already gotten buried in their crowd engagement, and began to play the opening of a tune. Behind BG, Yvonne had begun to tap on the drums, and he began to play chords on his own bass, contrasting Sylvan by an octave, and they smiled at him as the pair played together. Sam cleared his throat and began singing into the mic, catching the gazes of the rest of his quartet before he started. "You should call me tonight, while you are sleeping..."

Back in the crowd, Copic lost the sounds of the footsteps as her brother began playing, then gazed up on stage at the sound of Sylvan's chord. She beamed up at him, ears raising, and the two locked gazes. He paused for a fraction of a second, but didn't lose his sync, and quickly got lost in the music. This would end for a moment as they finished, then the quartet glanced back on each other to quickly decide on another tune to play. Behind her, in this moment of pause, Copic caught the sounds of steps again. Her ears raised, this time in a fit of shock, and she glanced around quickly. She swallowed nervously, then heard a low growl nearby.

"Move." The voice...

"Get out of my way." She knew that voice...

"C'mon, lose it!" She felt fear roll down her back as she felt her breath accelerating. Onstage, BG played, but still spotted his sister, watching her eyes shift from pride and joy to complete fear and terror. "There's someone I need to talk to."

A pause. Copic opened an eye as she didn't feel any hand try to touch her. Instead, she could hear, very faintly, the same voice, talking harshly. "You know you need me. You know that!" A yell...

"I owe you nothing! Get the fuck away from me!" This voice she recognized. "Stay away from me!"

"Where's that friend of yours? You know, that blue bitch who beat me up, and the blue bastard I beat because he wants after you?"

"He wants nothing to do with me!" She knew who it was now. "And neither of them deserve your anger - just leave them alone! You're creating more harm by doing this!"

"Hmph. Your loss to loose out on a guy like me." Footsteps. "I'm going to go find that blue bitch. I might fuck her later, if I can get a hold of her." At this, a cold, sharp stab of iced fear rang through Copic, her ears sinking sharply as the thought processed. _Oh my gosh._ She couldn't make herself move -

Out he stepped: Freddie. He knew instantly who she was, and she began to shiver, hard. From the stage, the twins locked gazes again. The taller octoling, meanwhile, grabbed hard onto her shoulders. "You little fucking bitch. Fuck you for beating me up!" He raised a heavy fist and gave her a swift punch to the stomach. This quickly sent a sickly feeling up her throat, and she coughed out a small spirt of dark blue liquid. _That's my own blood!!_ She backed away slowly in fear, just as he reached to grab her shirt and pull her forward. The fear in her eyes was enough to simmer a small grin, and she shivered aggressively in his grasp. Quickly, the taller octoling pulled her glasses off and began to smash them under his shoes, and her eyes widened with tears.

Another swift punch, this time to her face, shut her up, but she still sobbed, beginning to wail rather loudly. This finally attracted enough attention to them that caused the band to stop in full and chatter around to pause, just as BG ran through the crowd, unplugged bass in hand, and stopped less than a foot away as Freddie dropped his sister to the ground, her nose now bleeding and her shirt torn with a scratch. One of her eyes glowed black and she had a few scratches on her ears, nothing major, but enough to catch attention on her pale skin, and bruises had begun to dot her body. One of her hands looked to be in quite the state, fingers closing in pain as she stared up at him, looking beyond Freddie and over at... BG.

They locked gazes again, and she saw everything he was thinking in his maddened, fiery green gaze. _I am never letting anyone hurt you this bad again._ Their split second lock was lost as he finally performed the action he'd hoped he wouldn't have to do, but was willing to anyway: a hard, heavy swing as he slammed his bass against her attacker's back.

The guitar quickly shattered into pieces, but stopped him from doing anything. At the realization that a. he'd just ruined his guitar b. he'd probably get an earful from his bandmates and c. that he'd just done that, BG stood there for a few seconds, the top of his now-shattered bass still in hand, then blinked and leaped forward, before Freddie could do anything. He pulled his sister up and began to run, holding onto her hand as they escaped from the party. He was so into this that he still carried his tabs and the edges of a few broken strings bounced around and scratched his arms up a little.

He finally reached the edge of the sea with his sister and sighed, now flopping onto the edge of the docks. Copic quietly did the same, much slower than he did, and began break down in his grasp. She looked up at him, then sputtered, "He broke my glasses, BG..."

"I know he did." His quick reassurance obviously didn't make her feel any better, but she raised a hand to her nose, trying to wipe some of the blood away. This didn't stop her nosebleed, instead staining her arm blue, and her brother quietly bent her forward, making sure she couldn't get blood anywhere else before he held onto her nose. "Do you know the reason why I hit my bass over his back?"

"So you could get him to stop beating me up."

"Yes, but also to tell him that he shouldn't mess with us anymore. We are very close and I can't let him do stuff like that to you. I'm upset that I even let that happen for so long." He sighed and glanced at the broken tab in his hands. "Man..."

"You lost your bass... you didn't have to do that! There was no reason for you to -"

"Copic. I had no choice." She blinked and sighed back, then froze as she heard footsteps again. "Who's there?!"

These were slow, lighter steps, and sounded faintly like... _flats._ For a moment, Copic attempted to glance back, only to be stopped by her brother. "Hold still, Copic, or you'll keep having your nosebleed!" The steps came closer, and eventually BG's eyes widened in shock.

It was Niisa, blue eyes wide with concern and orange hair now flaring loosely on her body. "H-hey, um, I saw what happened in there," she murmured, sitting down behind them. BG briefly let go of Copic's nose, which had stopped bleeding, and shifted around to meet her gaze. His twin followed, and they stared back at her, nearly identical green eyes trying to hold her gaze. The twin to her left sniffled a little, a final, small stream of blue blood slipping out of her nose, and her brother quickly frowned and pulled up his sleeve to wipe it off of her face. "Freddie really beat you up, didn't he, Copic?" At the acknowledgement of her name, the octoling's eyes widened and she nodded. "Ah... well, and then with you, BG, you slammed your bass across his back."

He nodded and scoffed to himself quietly. "You're probably here to pity us, aren't you? We don't need your charity."

"It's not that... I just wanted to ask if we could be friends. For real this time." At this, both sets of eyes widened, and they glanced at each other before glancing back. "I understand if you all don't want to, but -"

"No." Copic spoke up this time, sniffling again. She wasn't crying, but looked like she was in pain, staring back with a glasses-less gaze. "We want to. Or at least I do. You seem really cool, Niisa."

"Yeah." At BG's reply, Copic smiled slowly. "Both of us are pretty careful about who we make friends with, but you seem very interesting and the kind of person we'd fit well with. Basically, we do want to be friends with you."

Shock had entered into Niisa's gaze, but she finally relaxed and replied, "That's great..." She studied the two briefly; the scratches on BG's hands, the black eye Copic had, the color of the tabs held tight within his grasp, the stains of blue blood on her face and arms. "You both look like you've had a really hard time tonight."

She burrowed around in a pocket for a moment, then pulled out her wallet. "How much will you all need to get a new bass and glasses?"

"Nononono -" The twins replied together at first, then BG spoke. "Don't give us your money! We'll find a way to get those things!"

"Right. Like I believe you can afford any of it. I can literally tell how loose those clothes are on you from here, they're loose on your body. The only reason why Copic isn't wearing smaller clothes is because of her bra size." At her bluntness, the blue octoling's face flushed, but she sighed and admitted her defeat with a nod. "So no, I won't refuse to help you out. I'll buy you a new bass, BG, and a new pair of glasses for Copic. The money I give you now... should help figure out what's going on with your hand there." She paused midway through her money shuffling and pointed to the octoling's left hand, which still glowed with a sickly swollenness to it. "I promise I'll check in on you all tomorrow. Can I have your numbers?"

"Yeah..." He didn't sound pleased, but BG was, internally, very grateful for her; he wasn't sure how to feel about her being there suddenly, but he could tell one thing: he was very, very happy to now have a friend who could help them out. _It's no perfect solution, but hey, in all honesty, it's the best solution we've ever been given._ He smiled to himself, sighing. "Thank you again for helping out... this was supposed to be a good night and it turned into a motherfucking disaster. Again."

The orange octoling scoffed. "Yeah... Freddie isn't really the kind of person we should be interacting with, I think. But at least he can't target us separately." Copic nodded, now worn out as her adrenaline wore off, and pressed her cleaner side into BG's, closing her eyes. "Aw..."

"Easy, Copic." He rubbed her hair gently as she finally relaxed a little. "I'm so sorry about everything. This was supposed to be good, I promised you that. I broke that promise in the worst way possible."

"Shut up," she murmured. "You had no control over it all... and yes I'm tired, but y'know, you tried your best to make sure we could enjoy this night. It's not our fault that things went wrong." He nodded, then continued his rubbing.

"I hope you know that I love you, Copic, as my one and only family."

"And I hope you know that I will always love my twin in the same way." Their closeness shocked Niisa a little, but she shook her head and finally held out an appropriate amount of cash.

"Here. Use it on Copic's medical care. Please let me know if you need anymore help, I truly insist. I've got the money to spare, just ask." The two nodded, now too emotional to complain, and the orange octoling helped them stand. "I'm sorry this was such a terrible night for you."

"It wasn't all bad." Copic's ear twitched. "We're all friends now. Not exactly the scenario I'd prefer to be in, but we are all friends now!"

"That is true... well, goodnight both of you. Stay safe and keep me in the loop, please."


	9. Chapter 9

Copic rested her cast-bound hand on her desk, sighing as she wrote with her non-dominant hand. She was ambidextrous in the first place, having quickly learned how to write and draw with both of her hands, but was nonetheless dominant in her left hand rather than her right, and winced uncomfortably as she felt the cast start to itch her wrist. _If only he hadn't... agh. Why is this cast so itchy?_

She'd gotten so distracted by the itchiness in her cast (and the doodle her right hand had started to draw) that she'd managed to miss the instructions given by her teacher, and instead perked up as she heard her name. "Copic? Did you hear me?"

Hot embarrassment rushed over her face. "Y-y-yes, ma'am!" She shivered as she glanced around at the open tables, spotting an open seat right next to... _Ugh, I can't even make her out, but I know that's Niisa... her hair is so long._ She squinted, then sighed as she turned to join Niisa. "H-h-hey," she murmured quietly. "Sorry..."

"Not a problem, take a seat." Niisa slid the seat out for her, smiling. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm okay..." She set her paper down, watching as the orange octoling studied her cast. "And before you ask, my cast is fine. A bit of a pain, but oh well..." She winced as she set it down with a little too much force, letting out a weak cry of pain. "Ow..."

"Still bothering you?" the orange octoling asked, and she nodded before digging into the pocket of her bag. She swallowed as she felt for a painkiller, then grabbed one and swallowed it down with a quick shot of water. "Yeah, I thought so... what are you and your brother doing during fall break?"

"Nothing much, really... we're putting in extra hours at our job, though." At this, Niisa's eyes widened. "Didn't you know? We work after school making donuts. That's why I've got dough and flour stains all over my cast." She pointed to one, quite recent, still dotted faintly with white. "I wash it off usually, but some of it always seems to linger on me." She lifted her hand and began to work, finally realizing that she had an assignment in front of her. "What about you?"

"I have clothes to model... I'm that pretty. Then my father has a dinner for work, and my family's coming to visit." The orange octoling blinked once. "Which donut shop do you work at?"

"Probably one you haven't heard of..." Copic's voice was still quiet, indicating that she still wasn't completely comfortable around Niisa. "Someone came in with a bulk order a few weeks back though, and ordered one of our specialty donuts."

 _What?_ "What's that?"

"We called it Fudge Fountain when we first made it. Exactly as it sounds, it's a chocolate overload. We soak strawberries in milk chocolate, make a regular donut with dark chocolate, and mix together a white chocolate glaze to drizzle over top. We'd put more fruit on it, but the thing people like with strawberries usually is... banana." The statement was hard for Copic to force out, and she scraped her metal medical band against the table. "I-I-I'm allergic to banana."

"Oh, like you have an upset stomach or something?"

"Much more serious than that." She swallowed nervously. "I-I'd rather not get into that though..." She flexed her right hand, furrowing an eyebrow. "Change of subject... how are you liking my brother and I?"

"You and your brother?" Niisa echoed, thinking. "I mean, how does one define 'liking' in a friendship?" At the awkwardness of her afterthought, she blushed. "Sorry, that just made it weird... I've enjoyed it so far. I know you both are kind of inseparable - I mean, you two have been together since the womb - but even so, I can tell you're starting to relax, and BG's, well... BG."

Copic raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her questioning only made him appear in her mind: BG's long, blue mullet stretching over his back, as he stood shirtless in a pair of long, black jeans, giving his toothy grin that defined his entire style, green eyes flared with determination... _Oh, man._ "...I mean, he's very much an ambivert, and he plays guitar, which is something I admire. I don't know if I could ever properly learn guitar."

Copic's eyebrow raised further, and she murmured quietly, "You're not into him or anything, right?"

"What?! No - no, I'm not into him." _But I mean... I kinda am. I'm into his piercings. I'm into his eyes. I'm into that grin. I'm into his hair. I'm into his stealthy protection over her. Fuck, do I really like this boy??_ She blushed a little. _I'm definitely more into him than I'd be with Freddie. I can't believe that BG broke his bass over that asshole's back._ She stared at the floor, lost in thought. _It was so brave of him to do that._ "I've never really been into anybody. Not really a romance person, especially not this young, no matter how much people want."

The blue octoling nodded, then replied, "I'm not one for romance either. The last time I was into someone, she kissed me just before I fled the underground. I never mention it to anybody, but I swear, if I'd stayed, I would've fallen in love with her even more." The whimsical memory dangled in her gaze, then she sighed. "That was the last time I've ever felt romantic love. I'm glad I'm not really feeling that right now, actually, I couldn't stand the fact that I had to leave afterwards."

"You never talk about the underground. What was it like?"

"Believe it or not, a lot less slummy than it seems." Copic's hand had gotten distracted again, and she quickly recognized this and shifted back to her work. "BG and I were born beneath the surface as our mother's largest regret. Twin octolings, with no family in sight. I went to a hospital once underground, for my allergic reaction to bananas when I was a kid." She lifted up her bracelet, allowing Niisa to read it. _Copic Freya Ramirez. Allergies: Bananas, plantains._ "They gave me this when I was younger and never took it off of me. I've only replaced it when it's been broken."

"Right... how'd you end up here?"

"My brother and I were abandoned by our mother when we were nine." Niisa's gasp made her look rather grim. "So we made a pact, then and there, that we would escape, and we would get out together. That's what we planned - and executed, though not as we would've liked. He went to the army and decided he'd fight his way out. Yeah, didn't work. When he left, I came up here, by myself. He found me a week later."

"You two weren't separated for long then."

"No. But that was the longest week of my life, and I'm saying that with a couple of emergency room visits. I was so scared. I told myself that I'd wait for him. I brought some of his clothes with me, whatever I could fit in the bag I carried. Someone helped me out - Gene, I think? - and I waited. I waited for my brother to come home."

"Gene. You know Gene."

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

"Gene works for my father. He's like the older brother I never had... he's my assistant too. He takes care of me. Him taking care of me takes a load off of my father." Niisa shifted, then sighed. "Are you hungry?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"You and your brother are both very gaunt. It's only going to be natural for me to ask that." Copic's stomach began to growl with indignance. "It seems your stomach is trying to speak for itself." Her face flushed, but she sighed in defeat anyway. "Alright then. After school I'm taking you to get something to eat."

"What!? No! Don't do that!" she protested, only to get shushed by the orange octoling. "Don't take me there - not without my brother!" At this, the latter relaxed.

"Without your brother, you say?" She gained a devilish grin. "Heheh... text him. We're gonna get some food for you two."

"No! Don't do that for us! You need that money just as much as we do -"

"I can drop money to help out friends. Not just that, I can drop a bullshit load of it." At "friends," Copic's ears rose. _We're considered to be friends in her eyes. Whoa._ "You can't. So I might as well help you out."

"...okay," the blue octoling replied quietly. "When would we be going?"

"After school. It's a date." _A date??_ She blushed. "In a figurative sense, Copic."

"R-Right..."

*

Upon entering the Reef, Niisa took a quick lead, calling over her shoulder, "Show me where your place is." Behind her, the twin octolings blinked at her in surprise, then Copic dug in her pocket for the shop's key. BG nodded as she headed towards their shop, unlocking it with her key. "And you two run this all by yourselves."

"Not exactly," he replied, overtaking the orange octoling. As he brushed by, Niisa could almost feel the warmth in her face as the faint scent of cypress passed, only to be quickly overtaken by the smell of the shop. _What a nice smell._ "We were hired by one of the owners of this complex. That's our sponsor; we split our money with them, and in place we get a donut shop and things to make them with." Copic had already slipped behind the counter; she was reaching for one of the sealed leftovers she'd made the day before with her unbandaged hand, her casted one struggling not to hold her up as she attempted to balance on her toes and elbow to reach for the display. "Here, sis, I'll help you." Behind her, BG came up and tapped her shoulder to let her know he was there, then slipped his hands around her waist and lifted her up. It took him a moment, but he eventually pulled her so high up that she now hung over his shoulder, tightening her knees around him as he held onto her. "You - agh - got it there?"

"Yeah, can you let me down?" He nodded, then lowered onto his knees to let her step off, watching her chew on a leftover as a snack. "We're not open on Sundays and Wednesdays. Even we need a break, and that's why we're able to hang around you today." She bit into her donut again. "Do you want one?"

"No, I'm okay." Copic yawned and relaxed. "But what I was really going to ask, um, was that we go and get food, because you two are really tired and thin - I don't want you all to go hungry." The twin octolings perked up. "We'll get samples, and food, and then we'll go home, and -"

"You don't even know where we live," Copic pointed out, a small smile on her face. "You're that into becoming friends with us?" She chuckled. "Aw, man. Love it." Niisa blushed, her face sinking in orange, and the blue octoling laughed harder. "We're down - both of us!" BG, next to her, blinked. "Don't say it."

"Nahhh, I will. Why are you being so sociable?!"

"We had a bit of a... moment." Niisa blushed again, harder. "Not a romantic moment. Just a moment." She grabbed her brother's hands, and he cringed for a moment at the glaze on her hand. "You're gonna do the same for her."

"...Yeah, you're right." He met the orange octoling's blue gaze, blinking. From the left, Copic grew a small smirk. "Sorry for seeming cold." He sighed. "Again. It's my fault for being weird around you." He held a hand out, watching as she took it slowly. Her fingers slipped gently over his, noticing the warmth that came with it, despite him being so thin. "I'm really not sure what's gotten into me... but you were cold to my sister. Even though you saved us from struggling." For a moment, Niisa's eyes shifted to Copic, who stared back with something... different in her gaze. _What the hell are you thinking??_

She shook his hand gently, locking gazes with him, and she got a better look at his face again. _I really gotta stop being entrained by this man's face. However, I do not object to his eyes._ "I know... sorry. We should go, I don't want to keep you two away from that." The trio headed outside, and Copic turned to lock up shop again. "Oh, and something I was going to ask you, Copic... how's the situation with your hand and glasses?"

"My hand's improving. My glasses, meanwhile, should be ready soon; I actually needed an eye exam anyway. Thank you again for all you've done. I just wish we could do more for you."

"Don't say that! I want you two to be happy, and I don't expect you to compensate me in full." Copic flowed back between them, to BG's right, while Niisa lingered to his left. "But you're managing. Right?"

"Yes. Very much so, actually." BG spoke this time; he was itching behind an ear, and had raised a hand up to take care of it before he focused back on looking for places to stop in. "Your funds were a great help. I'd only wish we could ask for more..."

"Oh! You wanted more?! C'mon, let me help you out some more, please?" The twins glanced over at her in confusion, but the taller of the pair nodded.

"Actually," he murmured, "that would be great. We would both be in your debt, but -"

"Nonono, don't worry about that! My father already makes more money that I could imagine... it's the least I can do!" They stepped inside a snack shop, the twins' eyes going wide at all the appealing things around them. "Look, I'll give you a couple hundred a week -"

"We can work out specifics later, okay? Let's focus on the task at hand."


	10. Chapter 10

Copic stretched a hand over her head, yawning as she got stuck in class alongside BG and Niisa. She glanced briefly at her brother, who sat a small distance away and stared. The only reason they were separated, she recalled, was because they had been a little... too talkative, as siblings, and worked a little too well together. _Ah well... he's doing well._

Her eyes traced over to Niisa, who was sitting near her brother, quietly embarrassed by him being close. The orange octoling's face sunk deeper and deeper into a full-blown blush, and she quietly slipped her phone out of her bag. She lifted her notebook up, then flicked over to their group text. _This guy's sooooooooooo lame and goes on foreverrrrr._

Subtly, she heard Niisa's phone go off, and this broke her out of her phase. _You're right. I can't believe this course has just been lectures. I'd prefer reading about it later instead of hearing his pain-in-the-ass voice._

 _No kidding._ BG'd joined in, catching Niisa's eyes before he smiled at her. He turned his eyes away before she could continue to blush, and he kept texting to their group. _I'd rather hear it from someone with just a little more personality._ Just as he sent the text, the teacher turned back to glance at the pair, and almost immediately, the two were writing again. With his faux gaze, remnant of his time spent underground, BG managed an interested look, though none of them were called on.

With the teacher still around, however, the mullet-haired octoling had to make up for notes, instead writing whatever came to mind. _This teacher really does have a boring voice. I really wish I'd gotten a different one. Copic looks entirely unmotivated and bored, the former less so than even the dumbest of our classmates. That's ironic because we're considered to be smart. Niisa looks bored too, also she's cute, and even though she's enthusiastic when she's interested, she can't force herself to like everything. Something tells me my hand's getting ahead of my mind._

After writing the sentence, the teacher moved away from him and Niisa (and Copic), and a soft, yet somewhat audible sigh of relief rung among them. He looked down at his paper after this, re-read over his thoughts, then widened his eyes. _WHAT THE FUCK I WROTE THAT NIISA'S CUTE???_ He shifted his gaze to her, thinking for a moment. _Well, she is a model. Her eyes are cute. Deep, deep blue. Like azure crystals. And her hair... vivid orange that darkens at the tips. A couple small tentacles fall in her face._ She glanced back at him, and smiled subtly. _Ah..._

They looked up as the bell rang above, and Niisa stood before him, retaining a cool composure to her thin stature. He didn't stand immediately, watching her mess with her earrings for a moment. She was wearing a pair of ruby-studded silver feather studs, and she finicked with one for a moment before she sighed. He sat in awe for a moment, up until Copic came up and pressed a hand to his shoulder. "You gonna stand one day?"

"Y-yeah, um, sorry, Copic." He stood at last, raising a finger up to scratch under the needle in his right ear. His face warmed a little, and his sister raised a confused eyebrow for a moment. "What?"

She waited until Niisa had stepped out, then hissed, "...do you like someone?"

"What?! No!" He felt a stronger, hotter feeling rush to his face. 

She chuckled. "You have a massive blush on your face!" She rubbed his hair with a hand, messing up his style for a moment. He quickly held her hand back, then gathered his things before he worked on fixing his blue locks. The twins stepped out, catching Niisa's attention. The orange octoling turned, and the younger of the pair tried hard to retain his composure. _I will not blush, I will not blush, I will not blush..._

Her eyes locked with his. _Don't blush._

Her orange eyebrows raised. "Hey!" _Don't. Don't. Don't._

She lifted an ochre hand to her face and pushed a tentacle over her ear. _No, no, no..._ His face warmed, burning into his skin, and internally, his mind began to race. _Why is she so cute?? I shouldn't be thinking like this, I..._ "Hi," Copic replied, snapping his thoughts. "Should we get going?"

"Mmhm!" Niisa's blue gaze blinked, and she smiled subtly. "We're going out, right?"

"That was the plan..." Copic yawned a little, and she blinked for a moment before she shook her head. "Sorry, been overwhelmed by school." Her twin's touch seemed to calm her down, so she, at last, shifted into her octopus form in order to take a subtle, but quick nap around her brother's shoulder. As she did so, he met Niisa's eyes, and watched her azure orbs study his sister's sleeping form on his shoulder.

"She seems to be very trusting of you," she noted. "You were talking about going out somewhere?"

"Well, yeah." He shifted, making sure Copic was settled. "For a little bit. I've got a few things to get for dinner -"

"We can get those too." She seemed engaged in their conversation, then she turned, calling, "Are you coming?"

"Ah - yes, I'm coming." They walked together in silence, passing students in the hallway. Several recognized Niisa; they shuffled out of her way, clearing the way for her to walk past her. Her blue gaze blinked, cold, but... warmer, as she glanced back at him. "All these students, they find you cold?" She nodded, and he glanced over his shoulder to see if he could spot the reactions of other students. A few seemed to look at him with a sickly stare, and he could sense their sorry feelings. A few others just looked surprised; their eyes widened, blinking in shock. The other students... he couldn't make them out enough, especially because he was trying not to shift too much, so as to not wake Copic. A chilling thought lingered for a moment. _What if they think she beat up Copic?!_ He forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. _No. She's fine._

They stepped into the courtyard, and she murmured, "Where do you want to go?" She'd slipped her sunglasses over her eyes, which left her gaze obscured.

"Err... I did mention that I had things to buy for dinner, right?"

"Yeah, but I was thinking about other things too?"

"Uhhhh..." He stared out for a moment. "I mean, we could stop at places while we shop. Copic and I promised each other that we'd make sushi together tonight." This seemed to satisfy her, and she nodded before she took a quick lead. "You should guide us though, you probably know of secret places."

"Sure." She seemed to know her way around, and BG followed behind her, eyes wide. On his shoulder, meanwhile, Copic's slumbering form shifted, and her heartbeat pounded into it for a moment. He smiled a little to himself, patting her head again, and he follow behind Niisa with a careful, but trusting, stride. She seemed almost... bothered, by something, almost as if she wanted to ask something, but couldn't make herself say the words. "Uh... was you day alright?"

"It was fine." She glanced back at him, and his throat twinged with overwhelming emotions of affection as her eyes just barely locked with his. "Uhm... dream job?"

"Already kind of doing it, but modeling work - continuing I mean." He shivered slightly as a cold wind blew in their direction, and she glanced back at him after a moment. She quickly stepped inside a shop, admiring the clothes around her, and the warmth flooded over his body, pausing his shaking. She lifted a white sweater up to her body, then flicked her gaze up to him. "Do you think this looks okay?"

"I think that'd be fine." _That's not fine. She'd look stellar in that._ The image of her wearing it already flooded to her mind: the sweater cuffed at her wrists, and was loose on the rest of her upper body, and he could imagine... her blue, blue gaze, looking back at him. _Ugh... she'd look perfect in that._ His throat soured as the image faded, and he swallowed the reappearing lump in his throat. _No getting embarrassed... I'd never hear the end of it from Copic._ "It would look nice."

"Hmm... yeah, I can see it." She'd gone over to a mirror, admiring it over her torso. "You're right." He approached slowly, staring at himself next to her in the mirror, and blinked for a moment, tracing his eyes over himself and the slightly shorter orange octoling to his right. _There's me. I guess I'm not really one to be in here, given the way I look. I'm wearing a dark blue sweatshirt, and I've got mine and Copic's stuff packed in a backpack on my shoulders. My own sister is wrapped around my shoulder, still sound asleep, but I'm... I'm wearing the sweatshirt to hide things that people don't want to see. I'm quite thin - Copic and I both are - and I've still got scratch marks on my arms from breaking my bass._ He felt sorry for himself after a moment. _Sylvan... I'm sorry._ His gaze flicked to Niisa in the mirror, watching as she inspected the tag. _And then there's her. Rich ochre skin. Deep-gazed azure pupils. Someone who knows how beautiful she is, and isn't shy to hide it. But at the same time, that gaze can be cold, almost frozen. It could freeze someone like me if she tried. However, it doesn't distract from her beauty. She's got these long, brilliant orange locks. They compliment her skin... and it's hard not to be entranced by that._ He could make out a blush starting to form on his face, and he pushed it back for a moment. _That's not why I like her, though. She is beautiful, but there's something else I like about her... and that's her kindness. It might just be something she's doing for us, given everything that's happened, but I don't care. She treats Copic and I with kindness and a sense of closeness that I've never had with anyone, even with my bandmates. I guess I shouldn't be comparing her to them though, I haven't known them that long either._

His thoughts were interrupted as Copic shifted on his shoulder, feeling her slip down his arm for a moment. She seemed to register this was happening, and shifted out before her octopus form could hit the ground. She let out a long yawn, then blinked, now standing next to him. "Thanks for the nap," she murmured to him, then her gaze traced to Niisa in the mirror. "What's been going on?"

"You haven't missed much. Your nap was pretty short." He slipped out his phone to check the time. "You only napped for half an hour. That's a record." She nodded, and he watched Niisa's eyes register his sister standing there now, having awoken from her nap. "Look who woke up to join us."

"Sweet." She hooked the sweater on an empty rack for a moment, then went to hunt for more. "What size do you two wear?" She quickly pulled another out and held it out to them, and out of his shock, he gently reached out to hold onto it for a moment. This one was a similar color, but with a vibrant design on it; a square of symbols lined the front, and he lifted it up to reveal a dragon design on the back. "Is that one too big? I can get you a smaller one -"

"No, this should work fine." He accepted the sweater in his hands after a moment, then he glanced over at Copic. "You're not..."

"Shh." She shushed him quietly, then murmured, "No. I understand why she's doing it." She smiled subtly, her mossy gaze sparking. "She's got something- or maybe someone - on her mind." Niisa's hands passed a sweater to her as well, and she blinked up at her. "Thanks, Niisa."

"That one works?" she called, and the blue octoling nodded. "Great. Now..." She scooped the sweaters from her hand and the rack, then headed to the cashier's desk with a quick stride. "You two coming?"

They nodded, and Copic hissed to her brother, "She's gonna just buy them for us?" He nodded slowly, and she scoffed. "She doesn't need to do that."

"You're right, she doesn't." They were walking, but watched her at a distance as she slipped her card out to pay for the clothes. "But she's being nice. I wonder if that's abnormal for her." The orange octoling's smile got BG's eyes sinking, and he sighed before murmuring, "At least she bought us something warm."

"Yeah." Copic had taken a lead, and her mossy gaze flicked back. "You coming, G?"

He snapped out of his gaze. "Yes, I'm coming. We'll buy stuff for sushi later." Niisa, finishing, turned back to them, and she passed the sweaters she'd bought to the twin octolings with a smile on her face. "Thanks, Niisa."

Her blue gaze widened, but she didn't lose her smile. "No problem. You should put them on, both of you, so you won't be cold." Her eyes locked with his, and he could feel his face beginning to warm. "You're both still planning on making dinner at home?"

"Mmhm!" Copic stretched, then pulled her sweater over her head. "Ahh... already warmer. But yes, we are still making sushi at home." She blinked, then shifted into her brother's side as he put his own sweater on, then zipped his blue sweatshirt over the fabric. "We try to make as much as possible so that we can have leftovers, but we need some stuff to make the sushi too. This is the first time you're coming over?"

"Err... I've never been to your apartment, so yes." BG's face burned, getting warmer as Niisa carefully pulled her own sweater over her body. _I could run my hands over her body._ "I guess we should go get some things for it? What kind of things do you need?"

"Well, first we need to decide on the rolls we want to make..."

*

The twin octolings took a lead as they entered their complex, waving to the lobby attendant before they began the walk up to the second floor. Copic had already shuffled her key out of her pocket, and began counting aloud to find their apartment number. "2414, 2416, 2418, 2420, 2422. There we go!" Behind her, BG carried multiple bags in his hands, and following at a distance was Niisa, carrying a few bags of her own, looking confused at the various apartments around her.

"Whoa." She blinked around, eyes flicking. "How many rooms even are there on this floor?"

"It goes from 2413 to 2422 here." BG pointed the rooms out around him. "See? We came from the opposite side of the lobby that we usually come from. It goes back and forth across the rooms here." He began to flick his finger back and forth. "2413, 2414, 2415, 2416, all the way down to 2422." His sister turned her key into the lock, then pushed her way inside, leaving the door open for her brother and Niisa to follow. "I like the hall-end rooms. Those are just a bit larger than the other ones." He let Niisa enter first, and she took everything in with a wide gaze.

"Whoa..." Although their apartment wasn't that big, she could tell the twins made use of the space; to her left laid a small kitchen space, where Copic had begun to unpack the groceries in her hands, and she quickly analyzed the space: cabinets, a refrigerator, a toaster, a microwave, a stovetop oven, a sink, and a dishwasher surrounded the blue octoling, who was carefully putting items away. From where Niisa stood, she could tell that she was standing in a small hallway between the sections; the kitchen area flowed directly into their living space, with a small table and set of chairs behind a couch that faced towards her, a small television, and a wooden coffee table. She could faintly make out the pair of chairs at the dining table; one was painted in vibrant pinks, blues, and purples, while the other was scrawled in pencil marks and doodles. Beyond their living space, she could spot two closed doors, each with a pair of heart-shaped plaques hung on the front. Faintly, she could make out the images within them: BG's toothy grin on the left and Copic's relaxed smile on the right. "Your apartment isn't all that big, yet you've got all this??"

"Mmhm." Copic, having nearly finished, stretched her arms over her head. "You can probably tell that those two closed doors go to our bedrooms. They're not that big, but they're fine for both of us, not to mention far better than our last apartment." She shivered a little at the thought. "Eugh. That bed. It was better than our sleeping in the homeless shelter, but the wireframe used to make it really hard for me to sleep at night." She sighed, turning to meet Niisa's eyes. "BG, I'm gonna show her around for a moment." Her locked gaze didn't last long; she'd already flicked her eyes downward as she finished the statement. "C'mon, I'll show you our rooms."

"You better not mess around in mine!" he called over his shoulder, and his sister shook her head before leading Niisa across to her room. "Or I'll be on both of you for it!"

"Don't concern yourself, BG, we're just going to look." She allowed the orange octoling to go first, then closed the door behind her. She fiddled with the knob for a moment as Niisa took it in: a moderately-sized bed took up most of the space and was pressed hard against a corner, and she could see a desk just to her right with a tucked-in chair and light mounted. A mirror stood to her left; while not big, it still allowed her to see herself in full within it. She looked for a moment to find the blue octoling's wardrobe, then finally found it placed next to the desk. "My room isn't all that big." Having finished with whatever she'd been doing, Copic stepped forward and flopped onto her bed. "Ahh..." She reclined for a long moment, head pressed against a pillow, then she met Niisa's eyes. "Hmm. You seem like you're bothered by something."

The orange octoling's face flushed. "Me? Bothered by something?"

"You just seem - I don't know - flustered?" At this acknowledgement, she smirked, and a blush grew around the azure-gazed octoling. "Hahahaha, I called it!" She shifted upward and grinned. "You're flustered about something. Maybe someone." She pondered a question for a moment, almost mimicking the twisting motion of it in her hands. "I wonder what that could be..."

Some of Niisa's chilliness seemed to return at her giggling. "Hey - stop! Leave me alone - ugh..." Despite her trying to keep a cold figure, her face was warmer than ever, and her face flushed in a vibrant orange. She swallowed a lump that had begun to form in her throat, then finally admitted defeat. "...you're right." Copic stopped chuckling, and for a moment, she sat with a wide, mossy gaze. "I do like someone."

"Oooooooh!" Excitement rushed into the blue octoling's stance, and she grinned wildly. "Heheheh... tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!!" She'd slipped up to the edge of her bedframe now, looking eager and excited to know. "C'mon, tell me!!"

Her excitement was _almost_ too much for Niisa. _But she's happy, and she's his sister. Maybe... maybe she'd help me out._ She met Copic's giddy gaze. "Fine," she sighed, and the mossy-gazed octoling had now begun shivering with anticipation. "It's BG."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat???" Copic's eyes widened, making her pupils seem small. "You like -"

"Not so loud!" Niisa clapped a hand over her mouth, shushing her. "Yes, I like your brother." She glared, then felt something odd in the hand as movement erupted underneath. "Eugh!"

"Sorry, I just wanted you to get your hand off my mouth," Copic replied innocently, now smiling, and casually unaware of Niisa frantically wiping her hand off. "Damn, though. You. BG. I can see it now... you two would be so cute together!" She chuckled again, and the blush returned to Niisa's face. "I should let you know, though." She'd turned her gaze away. "I don't know if he likes you back."

"Oh... well, I wouldn't expect you to know, I guess. That seems like a private thing."

"It is. That's why I'm not telling anyone." Copic's eyes blinked, clearly boiling ideas in her gaze. "Your secret is safe with me." She stood off of her bed, then flicked at her knob again. "Shall we go out and join him?"

"You locked your door!"

"So that he wouldn't hear us?? I've seen the way you act around him! I kinda had a feeling that you liked him." She chuckled to herself. "Again, though, the secret is safe with me!"

"Right... let's get going, so he doesn't get worried." She nodded, then opened her door again. "And Copic."

She paused. "What?"

"Thank you." Her ears raised. "For letting me tell you that."

"Not a problem. Keep me in the loop." Niisa nodded, then followed her out, watching the twins prepare dinner in silence.


End file.
